Sunday Musings

When did we become mean and why are we so frightened?

I realize that blogs and comments on articles are hardly scientific. But it isn’t just blogs and comments. I hear it from real people. They are frightened, and frankly, sometimes they are mean.

I have listened to otherwise very nice people tell me that they think if an illegal alien comes into an emergency room, that they should not be treated. In effect, they believe we should let them die if it comes to that.

Let them die. Is that what we do in America? Do we just let people die?

I read about a drunk driver killing an innocent, and it turns out he’s here illegally. The focus of the story becomes his illegal alien status when the problem in this case is drunken driving, not illegal aliens. The vast majority of drunk drivers who kill and maim innocent people are here quite legally.

Some say that the children of illegal aliens, whom I suppose most are illegal also, should be denied an education.

Is that what we do in America? Deny children an education because we don’t like their parents?

I wonder if other countries are so fixated on illegal immigration. I’ve done some basic research, more in the way of just glancing around. By and large, it would appear that most countries have illegals.

They don’t start printing everything in two languages. They don’t speak multiple languages in the classroom and they certainly don’t debate the idea of issuing drivers licenses or anything else that might somehow lend legitimacy their residency.

Nor do they label them all potential terrorists or drug dealers. They don’t make them into villains. They simply recognize them for what they are, and when they come across them, they are detained and deported.

There is nothing mean about it. There is no real fear displayed. They just deal with it.

Deal with it. Isn’t that what America used to be famous for? Dealing with the problem?

Any police officer should be able to detain someone for unlawful entry or for overstaying their visa.

Emergency room doctors are required to report all sorts of suspicions already. They can treat someone and also call Immigration.

If a child meets the address requirements for a school district, then they should enroll him or her. If they have reason to believe the child is here illegally, then they can report it.

And regarding each of my admittedly oversimplified solutions, they could all be appended with “or not”. We expect professionals to make on the spot decisions all the time and if they choose not to pursue their suspicions about someone’s status, we can just assume they have their reasons.

However you might describe the current state of affairs, we are not dealing with the problem.

We need to start.