Immigration.

One of the major issues discussed in the GOP debate, and one of the big issue facing the nation today is Immigration, both legal and otherwise. How to regulate, deal with, and track it. How to seal the borders from illegal aliens, drug smugglers, and terrorists How to deal with the estimated 12 ,million illegal immigrants currently in the country. Each of these are issue which need to be dealt with, preferably sooner than later. The problem is, as with any touchy political issue, a complete inability among most to disagree without demonising. The Left calls the Right racist, or nationalist, or just plain xenophobic. The Right calls the Left Soft headed, Socialistic, and anti-American. And nothing gets done.

Now personally I love immigrants. In fact most of my friends were not born in this country, nor was my wife. I find I get along with Immigrants easier than I do native Americans, for a number of reasons. My current boss immigrated to the states from Iran (but don't call him Iranian, hes Persian. There's a diff. )a few years prior to my birth, one of my best friends came here in his late teens, and half my in laws are foreign born.

Now I don't get along so well with immigrants because I'm some multi-culti nut job, or because I run a construction company. Its also not because I speak so many foreign languages. cause I only speak English. Its not because I work in immigration, or even because I have travelled so extensively. The reason is I just tend to find more to like, and admire, in immigrants to America, than in our own native sons.

Now don't get me wrong there are plenty of home grown heroes I admire. Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Ronald Reagan, and George Patton just to name a few. But I think we can all agree these men were truly singular individuals. But when it comes to interacting with he bulk of the people in their group, I find it far easier to relate to, and be comfortable with, immigrants.

Now knowing the "caliber" of my violent readers, I know many of you are probably already quite surprised, after all I'm a well known ring wing nut job. And we all "know" that right wingers are all xenophobic racist bastards who hate brown people. So they fact that I am not volunteering to waterboard illegals caught by the minute men probably surprises quite a few of you. But then most of you are morons anyway. Those who aren't, and you know who you are without me having to tell you, are probably trying to figure out why I feel more comfortable with immigrants than natives.

Ill give you a hint, How many natives do you know who realise their birth here was a gift from god himself?

Because the thing is Ive met a lot of people who came here from others countries. Some of them came from truly brutal regimes, such as Cuba, others came here from violent and chaotic nations like Haiti, or Iraq. Some came up from South America by Mexico way, and others left eastern Europe and arrived at JFK. No matter how they got here though, the vast majority came here for one reason, to build a better life. They are thankful of the opportunities they have here, as opposed to where they are from, and though they still love their "old country" they are truly grateful for their new one.

When was the last time you met an Native American who felt grateful for being born here? When was the last time you heard someone express that sentiment in a non-ironic or meaningful way? I bet if your honest with yourself, you probably don't even really feel that way yourself. You may think it, but you don't feel it. You may not even be able to, if you have never left this country; because until you understand how the vast majority of the rest of the world lives, you just wont get it. No matter how "cultured" you may think you are. No matter how well you did in cultural studies, or geography, no matter how much you watch the travel channel, you don't really have the imagination or experience to understand how the average citizen of Africa, or China, Or even Russia lives. Most of you can barely understand whats its like in The UK, despite the fact that we have a shared history. You simply don't have the frame of reference.

So understand I'm not accusing you of a failing, I'm just saying you gotta experience something to really understand it. And most of you out there on the idiot-net simply don't understand why you should be so grateful.

But its not just that, there's also a sense of entitlement among Native Americans that immigrants usually don't have, at least not at first. Its almost as if we buy into the American Dream so fully, we forget that we still have to work for it. Growing up in America, the culture imprints us with certain ideas, that anyone can accomplish anything given a little luck and a whole lot of work, that any child could become president, that your opportunities are limited only by your own ability to capitalise on them etc. But somewhere along the line, for most Native Americans, this gets twisted somehow. People stop thinking they can accomplish anything if they work, and start thinking they are owed something. Somehow the Dream gets twisted from "You can be anything you want" to what people hear, which seems to be "You can have anything you want" While Native American families making 60-80K a year a bitching that they cant afford health insurance, Immigrant families I know who make 30-45K a year are riding the bus and brown bagging their lunches to be able to provide coverage for their families.

Its seems to me that Folks born in America somehow get twisted around by popular culture, because instead of feeling obligated to give back because they were lucky enough to live in this country; they seem to think they should be owed more because they were born in this country. How many times have you heard someone refer to their "right" to have someone else support them? The "right" to health care, the "right" to a college education. the "Right" to retire comfortably, the "right" to be free from offense. Since when is having without earning a "right"?

But I'm getting off track, the point was, I usually find it a lot easier to be friends with immigrants than natives. Not always the case, but more often than not. So when I say that our immigration system is broken beyond repair, its not because I'm anti-immigrant. When I tell you I support the Minute Men, understand its not because I hate Mexicans or Canadians. I just think that for any country to abdicate control of its borders and of citizenship, whether de-facto or official, is suicidal. (not that America has done much in the last 30years that wasn't)

Our immigration policy is one of the most perverse, complicated, non-sensical, needlessly complex, self contradictory, and just plain bat-shit crazy messes I have ever had the sorry misfortune to witness. I can tell you, from experience, that our immigration system is totally broken, and needs to be either seriously overhauled or replaced.

The problem is that would require the people outside of Washington to hold those within Washington to standards we haven't help our "statesmen" to in over a century. In order to fix it, The Dem's and the Rep's would have to get out of the pockets of the Labor Unions, Corporations, Special Interests, Lobbyists, etc. and then they would actually have to think before they put pen to paper and created a bill. Of course this all presupposes they aren't too busy passing super sized bacon rolls off as bills, are actually there to serve the people, and are paying attention, which might be too much to hope for.

Now personally I think the best way to go is to put some major funds in to sealing both US borders, and to increase the amount of legal immigration we allow, especially from skilled or educated workers. Of Course we would also have to begin enforcing existing immigration law as well. While we cant exactly round up 12 million people at once, we could get them out over a period of time via attrition, if there were any serious efforts made at enforcement at all.

Of course I'm not in the Senate or the House, so what I think and a tenner will get you a Caramel Frapachino.

But I know we gotta do something. I just figure that, as usual we wont, or even more likely, the geniuses up in Washington will make things worse.

It takes a lot of discipline not to reach for the comfort of false hopes, when you live in a world as bass ackwards as ours y'know?