What should we call them?

Illegal Alien, or undocumented immigrant? While the difference is subtle it’s enough to stir controversy among the Hispanic population that is threatening to be taken into court. People in America use the term “illegal alien” to describe someone in our country who has violated our immigration laws, not to demean someone, but rather because it is the correct, and legally recognized, term. Even though it is legally recognized as the proper title for this group of people many legal immigrants feel that this is a derogatory phrase for these people. The immigrants have engaged in a political correctness campaign spear headed by the argument that “A person can’t be deemed illegal.” The term illegal immigration blurs the distinction between legally admitted immigrants and those who have illegally sneaked into the country or have violated our immigration laws in some way. These people are even threating to take this crusade for “political correctness” into legal journals and in the courts.

In the article “Illegal Alien or ‘"Undocumented Immigrant,"’ written by FAIR (Federation for American Immigration Reform) they quote illegal immigration activist Elizabeth Hull, who says; “An alien's unauthorized presence in the United States is not a crime under the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1952 …. Thus many people find the term undocumented alien preferable to illegal alien, since the former avoid the implication that one's unauthorized presence in the United States is a crime.”

While she does bring up a valid point, where the Immigration and Naturalization Act does not condemn crossing the border, the Constitution states that as a nation we must protect ourselves from foreign invaders and that is why crossing the border is a crime. This is also the reason why many feel that it should be considered a felony because it is a direct violation of The United States Constitution. While I have stated before I don’t feel that illegal immigration is a felony I do feel that it is none the less illegal which is why these people deserve to be called illegal immigrants. If they want their name changed I’m sure criminal or lawbreaker fits too but I’m sure they’d campaign against that as well. I think the easiest way to avoid being called an illegal immigrant is to just simply not come here illegally. Isn’t that a radical thought?

Ya now you want them back

When Alabama began to enforce the Arizona SB 1070 bill it has had a large effect on illegals and many have been taken into custody because of this law. While this is a good thing for Alabama taxpayers this is proving to be a bad thing for Alabama farmers. Last month over 100 farmers held an assembly about 35 miles outside of Birmingham and said that many of their Hispanic laborers are packing up and leaving. This is causing a large drop in production for these farmers because they don't have workers to run their farms. 10,000 illegal workers, each making about $5,000 a year, are estimated to leave, according to a report released this week by the University of Alabama’s Center for Business and Economic Research.

Alabama government came up with the idea to put convicted criminals to work on these farms
which at the time, to me, seemed like a good idea. However, the government didn’t take into account the drive and the effort that the illegal immigrants have and these criminals don’t. Farmers say they show little respect and they rarely get the job done on time and when it is done on time it is very poor quality.

This is a perfect example of the argument for illegal immigration that these immigrants take the jobs that Americans simply won’t do. I’ll admit that bending over in the sweltering Alabama heat farming for $5,000 isn’t something I would look forward to doing but I feel if my family was starving to death I would do anything for a little extra money. Another place that is being drastically affected by Alabama and its harsh immigration laws are the school districts. Superintendents are reporting a large drop in Hispanic children at the schools. However, this problem is not being ignored; a senator in Texas is taking this to the federal level with a solution that would allow the entrance of 500,000 Mexican labor workers that would help keep the agricultural business alive. Like all bills that benefit our country there is always a drawback. The drawback here is that the farmers themselves would be required to pay extra for the housing and living expenses for these laborers.

Farmers are the only people in Alabama that want illegals in their state and this is because it would save them money. The farmers have four options and hiring illegal immigrants is not one of them. There first option is that they can support the senator from Texas and his bill that would help them to keep their workers but they’d have to pay them a little more. The second option is for them to go back to having criminals work on the farms for very little pay but also very little production. The third option is they hire actual Americans that will obviously demand a much higher pay than the Hispanic laborers. The fourth and final option is for them to go out of business and of all these options I feel there is no reason why they won’t back this bill being proposed by Representative Lamar Smith. This shows that Hispanic workers are trapped in a love hate relationship with Americans. One side loves their work ethic, the other hates them for not coming here legally and when one side gets it way the other pouts and whines. However the bill being presented could provide a middle ground that both sides will have to come to terms with in order to keep Alabama’s agriculture alive.