Published January 13th, 2008
‘We need a dialogue’
Newscoma was responding to a meme, and I thought her remarks on one issue were particularly well-stated and in line with my own concerns:
3 — How would you describe your views on immigration policies in the U.S.?
I think that we need to treat everyone the same first of all and quit making the word “immigrant” a dirty word, which irritates the crap out of me. There are legal immigrants in this country and there are illegal immigrants here but the national argument is mind-blowing to me. There are laws on the books already to deal with the issue but we have forgotten human decency in this national/statewide argument. I find the whole immigration debate to be very important on one level though, and that is the Sneetches argument that certain folks want to make it an us-and-them thing. We need a dialogue, not a bunch of finger pointing.
Absolutely. Sure, there many are legitimate issues about border security, eligibility for social services, and what have you, that need to be discussed, frankly and openly. But there’s an edge, an undercurrent, to the whole immigration debate as it now exists that sends a shiver down my spine.
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