Besides those dirty brown people are screwing it all up for the rest of us. 
Attention all Hispanic folks. Thank you for everything you have done for this country. Thanks for the burritos, Taco Bell, the cheap labor, the introduction of cholo culture, and roaming taco trucks. Thanks for wanting to live and work in this country so badly that you crossed rivers and darted across highways just to get here. Thanks for paying taxes. Thanks. Really. I’m so happy to have gotten an opportunity to eat a chalupa.
It’s been a real pleasure. But let me give you a piece of advice: Fucking Run. Why? Because this country has it in for you. I know, I know. Just when you were getting comfortable too. All the heat was on our Arab brothers and sisters. We other brown folks were just sitting back, collecting our welfare checks, not having car insurance, and shooting babies out of our wombs like t-shirts out of one of those t-shirt guns they have at baseball games.
Then we heard some rumblings and we knew one of us was going to get screwed. We thought it might black folks again. But then we were like, nah! We got one of ours in the White House! It ain’t us! Guess who’s in the hot seat now? Puerto Mexicans! Why? Because we just don’t like them right now and we don’t need any other reason! (Besides, they’re taking our jerbs! and giving us pig AIDS!)
Also, they are coming over here, having their dirty “anchor babies” and then these anchor babies are either blowing our shit up (if they’re Muslim) or getting a citizenship foothold in this country so they can sponsor all their eleventy-three relatives, bring them over, and share a one bedroom apartment.
I mean, c’mon, son!
When I read this article, I literally yelled out loud: “WHAT THE FUCK!?”
On Sunday, Sen. John Kyl (R-Ariz.) became the highest-ranking Republican to suggest support for the repeal of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Appearing on CBS’ Face the Nation, Kyl said that he opposes allowing children of undocumented immigrants to be granted U.S. citizenship and wants Congress to hold hearings on the matter.
In doing so, the Senate’s no. 2 Republican didn’t place himself on the extreme wing of his party’s stance on immigration policy. Rather, he joined what is a growing movement that could very well shape the official policy planks of the GOP.
…
In the House, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) has introduced the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2009, which would attempt to deny children of illegal immigrants U.S. citizenship through statute rather than a constitutional amendment (thereby lowering the vote threshold). He has 93 co-sponsors for that effort including Rep. Nathan Deal, the Georgia Republican who is in a runoff to be the party’s candidate for governor.
Senate candidate Rand Paul (R-Ky.) caused a stir shortly after winning his primary by saying he supported stripping citizenship from children of the undocumented. Former congressman and potential Colorado gubernatorial candidate Tom Tancredo — one of the staunchest anti-illegal immigration voices in national politics — has made repeal of the 14th Amendment a major cause.
Yes. Let’s hold hearings on the 14th Amendment. You know, the one with the Equal Protection Clause? The one that made me and people like me a full person? Let’s allow these Tea Partying rightwing nutjobs to have a crack at rewriting the 14th Amendment.
Hell, let’s just send a copy of the Constitution to Sarah Palin and let her rewrite the whole damn thing. After all, Palin thinks that Obama doesn’t have the “cojones” for immigration reform. I’d love to read Sarah Palin’s Konstitooshion:
We the Thriller-jacket wearing People of the United States of Russian Alaska, in Order to form a more sexy Union…
::blows head off::
It’s hard to take any of this political posturing seriously. No one seems to give a crap about immigration reform except for in election years. Then people start talking about building walls, and ridin’ fences, and we don’t need no thought control, and how can you eat your pudding if you don’t have any meat! Blah blah blah.
It’s so predictable. George Bush talked about immigration reform for 8 years and didn’t do a damn thing about it. But now all of a sudden Obama doesn’t have the cojones. It’s enough to make me want to set my feet on fire.
If you want to fix the immigration problem, crack down on companies that are hiring illegals to do crap work for less than minimum wage. Until I hear someone seriously talk about that, I really wish people would shut right the hell up.
Oh, and if you want to know just how scary it is out there in the World Wide Web of Crazy, check out the crazy spewing from this commenter’s crazyhole:
ONLY the States can save the Union now. All those that want to see our country survive and endure should take all of their efforts to their state governments and get them to finally stand up and assume the sovereign roles and powers.
If they dont, we will not make it.
Even with great guys like Thomas and Scalia, it isnt enough. The problem is the courts before have allowed unConstitutional precedence. And thus, even some of the conservatives on the Court accept some previous rulings, even if they are not Constitutional.
When I hear “Well its settled law…” I cringe.
Which is why it is up to the States now. In some ways, previous courts have backed this court into a corner they cant get out of.
So, it will now be up to the States to clean up the mess that they really created. How did they create it? By allowing the Federal government (to include the SCOTUS) to usurp their powers for the last 90+ years, they have also been an accessory to the fact.
But, we have moved this so far down the line now, that it will take them getting back involved and fixing Washington. So, they come back in, adjust the Constitution so that many of these rulings by the SCOTUS that were unConstitutional can be overturned by changes to the Constitution, clarifying what was already the plain meaning of the Constitution.
A big hurdle in this: if they do this, things like Social Security. Medicare, Medicaid, etc IMMEDIATELY go away. And with the entitlement mentality of today’s Americans (that mentality that believes we have a right to some else’s property and can use the government to force someone else to give it to us) is so prevalent, that the backlash will be severe.
But, the path we are on already leads to a dissolution of the Union. If the States cannot get it straight, we are done anyway.
That is why you see many states already putting sovereignty laws on their books in the last few years. To prepare themselves for this battle…and even secession, if necessary.
So let me get this straight: whether or not a Supreme Court decision is constitutional is governed by one’s own political persuasion rather than a set of legal principles? Well shit. What did I go to law school for?
And this guy thinks we should dissolve the United States of America and become A Bunch of States That Are All Located in North America.
Ah, God bless the good ol’ ABSTAALNA. What a not-country!
[Check out this link for an interesting timeline of immigration through 1930. Basically, we're all effing immigrants. The only people who aren't immigrants have been corralled into reservations, but who cares about them anyway, right?]
[Thanks to Average Bro and his commenters for the links.]
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Emma Lazarus, 1883
So…uh…whatever happened to that?
Well, it was given to us by the French, so obviously it was a Trojan horse sent to us to ultimately lead to our undoing.
And actually, the poem wasn’t part of the deal and came after the fact. So, you know, once again The Arts and Artists are ruining America for everyone else.
Damn hippies! (I’m pretty sure we’re next on the “strip away their citizenship” list)
Rand Paul NEVER suggested stripping citizenship from anyone. Any legal changes would be entirely prospective. Immigration and naturalization laws have changed all the time as the situation changes here. When my ancestors came, if you signed up for homestead programs you could get free land. Sure wish that were available now! But it isn’t. Things change when resources become more scarce.
Cite your sources please? (I’m sincere–I am all for differing view points, but no debate can properly be conducted without both sides citing their sources. See all of ABL’s links above.)
I would like to know what resources are so scarce that warrants revisiting the 14th amendment. I honestly do not understand where all the fire and brimstone is coming from and think it is a political calculus.
Serious question!
http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/05/rand-paul-children-of-illegal-immigrants-should-not-be-us-citizens-video.php
No more mexicans because they’ll all vote Democratic!
(@8:30 mark… Notice how he seems to be conflating immigration reform with the war on terror.). These people frighten me.
I live in a border state — 8 miles from Mexico. My husband and I moved here three years ago to be close to his elderly mother after his father died. My husband was born here, as was his mother. We are in the 10% minority consisting of Caucasians, African Americans, Asians, etc who are not Hispanic, and basically I have this to say:
Unless you live in a border state and have been directly affected by the influx of illegal immigrants who buy social security cards and birth certificates, who come across the border to have babies and go back, you have no idea of the extent of this problem. My husband, who is well qualified in computer technology, cannot find a job in his field of expertise because he cannot speak Spanish. He cannot even get a job at Target stocking shelves because he cannot speak Spanish. Every week there are more and more illegals coming into the country. Every week there are more and more babies being born to illegal immigrants. Something has to be done to control this tide. I personally do not have a problem with the idea that children who are born to illegal immigrants should not automatically have citizenship. I realize that currently it would be unconstitutional to deny them citizenship, but that’s what amendments are for. I doubt that this matter will ever be given serious consideration, so here we are.
For the record, I voted Democrat in the last election. I am not a right-wing conservative nut job. I’m also not on the extreme left. I am just a citizen who’s life is currently being deeply affected by this particular issue – and I would like to see things change. Unfortunately, I don’t know that I ever will.
To the lady above, my whole family is from the Rio Grande Valley, we are Mexican Americans and most of us speak Spanish fluently and my mother’s family were migrant workers…People in border states aren’t automatically illegal immigrants. Back then, a lot of schools in that area did not allow people to speak Spanish in schools and if you did you were punished. People who were born here and NOT in Mexico also speak Spanish, so don’t assume only “illegal immigrants” are the ones who are stealing “your” jobs when people who are born here are bilingual. This is why people are so fucking ignorant ’cause they assume anyone who speaks another language is not from here…
Butterfly: I am not assuming that anyone who speaks another language is not from here. However, if you are from the Rio Grande Valley, then you should be well aware of the rampant corruption in the Valley — not the least of which is the problem with illegals (yeah, guess what, I live in the Rio Grande Valley). I know many many Mexican Americans who are hardworking and good people. They are also bilingual. However, the fact that there are Mexican Americans who are citizens, or who live and work here legally does not take away from the fact that there are still millions of illegal immigrants in our country who are having babies who then become citizens. It also does not take away from the fact that there are millions of illegal immigrants who continue to scam our government every day.
Do not automatically assume that just because I have a problem with the way businesses are run here that I am a “fucking ignorant” hillbilly. I am a CPA — I see this corruption on a daily basis. And nowhere in my comment did I say anything about “our” jobs. However, the fact of the matter is, there are illegals in this country who have jobs that might otherwise go to legal citizens — this should concern ALL citizens — even Mexican American citizens. So, get down off your god damned high horse and stop acting like everyone who is concerned about illegal immigration is some kind of racist bigot. I, for one, am fucking tired of it.
Oh, and one more thing. My husband is Osage Indian. So, he truly is not an immigrant. I’d say he has a little more leg to stand on in this discussion.
So, why do you assume that those people who are taking your jobs are illegal? They could be citizens who speak Spanish. In case you didn’t know, people who are bilingual typically get the job, especially where you live at now… Since people speak Spanish so much there it’s pretty important for people to know Spanish in many sectors of work. Again, you made it seem as if someone who speaks the language is from the country, and yes I know there are people crossing the border, that doesn’t mean those are the only people “taking the jobs”. I’m sure my mom as gained the upper hand in many jobs she has applied for over the years, especially the job she’s been working in the past 15 years, because she is bilingual. My mom did not go to college, but she works hard and speaks another language. I still see you as someone who looks down on our culture, even though you’re in an area where you’re pretty much outnumbered. The Valley is not a place to really look for a job in the first place… it’s not a place where you can find a job and move upward quickly.
Well, yes your husband is not “White” but he’s still not of the predominate culture in the Valley so it seems like you’re both gonna have a hard time comprehending other things that are going on. If you don’t like it there, which was the case of my parents, then move. They realized years ago the Valley was gonna be a steady place of growth, not a fast one. I suggest moving to the burbs but hey, there’s gonna be illegals there too so good luck…
Where did I say anything about MY jobs? For god’s sake, do you have a reading comprehension problem? I also never said I didn’t like living here. I am simply stating that people who do not live in border states cannot fully understand the extent to which illegals are taking over.
I also am not assuming that all people who are speaking Spanish are illegals — HOWEVER — corruption in the Valley is rampant, as I already stated, and as I’m sure you already know. And it only makes sense that there are more illegals in the border states than in other states. There is a brisk business in trafficking humans here — as well as in selling fake social security cards and birth certificates. It is just a fact of life. You know it, and I know it — so stop trying to skirt the issue by pulling out the “you’re a racist and you hate our culture” card.
The fact of the matter is, I love the Valley. I love the people of the Valley. I do not look down on your culture. It fascinates me. It’s interesting. It is entirely different here than any other place I have lived — and that is what I love about it most. But, the fact of the matter is, since we are so close to the border, there are, by extension, going to be more illegals here than in a state that is NOT bordering Mexico. It only makes sense. And just to reiterate, my husband was born in Corpus. His mother was born in Harlingen. They have just as much right to be here as anyone else. We came back here to take care of his mother, who is nearly 80 — something you should appreciate as a Mexican-American, since your culture is very family oriented.
My point about my husband being Osage is not that he is a minority, but that the argument that we are all immigrants doesn’t apply to him. Just a side note that I wanted to put out there.
Again, there are millions of illegal immigrants in this country. It just seems to me that someone who is here illegally should not be able to give birth and have their children receive automatic citizenship. That is my point. And my only point. I don’t care if they are brown, black, green, red, white or yellow. It’s not their race that concerns me — or their culture. It’s whether they are here LEGALLY. But, as long as the Constitution states that anyone who is naturally born is a citizen, this pattern will continue. And our country will continue to be bloated with people who are scamming our government. — which is a further detriment to legal citizens.
Mrs. Sixx: Your complaint appears to be that your husband cannot get a job because he is not bilingual, not because these jobs that you think he is entitled to be offered were offered to undocumented immigrants instead. It sounds like your husband is not being offered jobs because he is not qualified, as the qualifications include being bilingual. The fact is that you live in a bilingual culture, and businesses need to adapt to their consumer base.
I suspect that you don’t have any proof that your husband was denied a job that was offered to an “illegal.” I suspect that you have bought into the hysteria that is not borne out in facts. Did you know that the number of undocumented immigrants coming to this country has gone DOWN over the last decade? Did you know that the number of undocumented immigrants that come here every year is actually about the SAME as it was in the 1970s?
Check your hysteria at the door, do some research other than your ill informed personal experience. Learn the facts.
Oh, and, one other thing. Did you know that the 14th Amendment protects your rights as a woman? Do you actually believe that these right wing wackjobs talking about retracting the 14th Amendment care enough about you to make sure that women’s rights would still be guaranteed by the “amended” 14th that you now seem to agree with? Did you know that your right to purchase contraception without interference from the government is also protected by the 14th Amendment? Remember, these people have an agenda that goes far beyond illegal immigration. These are the same people that want to eviscerate the right to choose, the right of racial minorities (who are citizens) to be free from discrimination, among other things.
By ramping up your hysteria on this issue, the right wing is hoping that you will ignore their true agenda, and before you know it, we will be sent back to the Jim Crow back alley abortion world and will wonder how this happened. Dont be distracted and pay attention.
That is, unless you also believe that this country would be better off with Jim Crow and the absence of a pro choice culture. Then we would have to have a broader discussion.
MdmurphyLA: Links please to your statistics.
Secondly, show me where I said the 14th amendment should be retracted.
Thirdly, what hysteria am I exhibiting? Again, my position has nothing to do with race. Explain to me why someone who is here illegally — no matter what race they are — has the right to have a child born as a natural citizen? Why does someone who is here illegally have any rights under the law — other than to be treated humanely until they can be deported to their country of origin?
I don’t want anything to do with the agenda of the right wing. I simply believe that immigration reform is an absolute necessity in this day and age. I am also tired of being labeled a racist or hysteric because I am not giving the pc response to this particular issue. On this ONE issue I agree that illegal immigrants do not have the right to have children born as naturalized citizens. The Constitution at this point disagrees, so again, here we are.
As for my husband being unqualified — explain to me why he needs to be bilingual to stock shelves at Target. Explain to me why he needs to be bilingual to work at HEB (the local grocery store). Explain to me why he needs to be bilingual to work at Best Buy or Walmart. Explain to me why I can walk into any one of these stores and ask a question of an employee and yet they cannot answer me because they can barely speak English. Explain to me why there are people whom I know personally who have relatives who use the social security numbers and birth certificates of family members who are legal citizens, yet nothing is done about it. Do you live in the Rio Grande Valley? Do you read the local newspaper? Do you deal with local businesses on a daily basis? Do you personally know people who are members of the local school board, members of the local chamber of commerce, members of the local rotary who will tell you that illegal immigrants using false documentation are rampant in the area? If you do not, then you cannot know of what you speak.
I was born in Missouri. I moved to KY the year that forced busing was used to desegregate the schools. I was 12 at the time. I remember the rednecks in that town setting police cars on fire, rioting and generally behaving like 1930′s KKK’s. It was completely foreign to me that people had that much objection to black students being bussed into the white neighborhoods. I myself was bussed downtown to what was formerly a primarily black school. Trust me when I say that the teens I knew had no problems with desegregation. We did not understand what all of the fuss was about. In fact most of us were not raised to believe that just because someone was a different color than us, we should treat them any differently. In addition, my parents taught me to believe that all people of all colors were created equally and should be treated with equal respect. My parents raised me to be color blind. So, anyone who wants to lob “Jim Crow” insults at me has no idea what they are talking about.
I have more to say — but have just gotten an emergency phone call. Will come back tomorrow.
Mrs. Sixx:
Luckily for us, there is a department of that bad evil federal government called the “Office of Immigration Statistics.” This report provides a good starting point for us to clarify the reality of the undocumented situation. Here is the link: http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/publications/ois_apprehensions_fs_2005-2008.pdf
Regarding your complaint that I accused you of retracting the 14th Amendment, you cannot have it both ways. You are advocating the retraction of a fundamental provision — indeed one of the first clauses — of the 14th Amendment. That is, in fact, a retraction, by definition. Retraction means “never mind.” If that is what you think we should do, admit it.
Moreover, we cannot ignore the laws of unintended consequences. They are very powerful here. Everytime you change a comma — let alone retract a fundamental right — in the constitution, it will have profound changes that you cannot yet imagine. That is why it must be done with caution, and without emotion, and only when there is truly a crisis that must be fixed.
There is no crisis here. It is, in my opinion, hysteria manufactured by the right wing to distract us from who they are by making us fear the Mexicans, the Muslims and the Black People. I happen to believe that you have fallen prey to their shenanigans. They are looking for people like you, who are impressionable, and willing to extrapolate from one or two stories that you have HEARD, and assume that is a trend. Trends come from statistics, and statistics do not support the hysterics.
Here is one possible explanation as to why it makes sense to grant citizenship to children of undocumented immigrants. Are you aware that in many countries, if you are born outside of that country’s borders, you are NOT a citizen? Imagine what would happen if children of foreign nationals were born here, denied citizenship here because their parents are illegally here, but then, their country of origin would also deny them citizenship. You have just created a stateless underclass. That is bad public policy. It happened in Germany with Turkish immigrants, and the project of turning them into stateless non citizens of the world has just not gone well. In a nation of immigrants like ours, it would be a disaster.
I hate to break it to you, but no matter how much you deny that you are motivated by race, simply saying you are not being racist does not make it so. If you were not motivated by race, why do you keep conflating people who are Spanish speaking with undocumented immigration. Perhaps it is because you equate the two. If you equate the two, then clearly you are more concerned with illegal immigration from south of you, rather than illegal immigration from other places. That is a racial motivation, whether you like it or not.
Finally, I find it particularly arrogant that you have decided that you know better about how to make a Target work than they do. I have no idea why they have decided that it is important that employees be bilingual. I have never managed a store like that. I also wont pretend that I know their business better than they do. I will tell you this, I do not believe that they have that prerequisite for employment for the sole purpose of stealing jobs from legal citizens.
Bad, Evil Federal Government? Where, pray tell, did I state that?
And your calling me arrogant? That is rich. Your comments drip with condescension and arrogance. Perhaps if you tried presenting the information you have a gathered in a manner which does not paint me as a racist, simple-minded fool, I might be better able to have a reasonable conversation with you.
For instance, your point that denial of citizenship here would also mean denial of citizenship in their parents’ country of origin — leaving them essentially stateless. That is an argument to hang your hat on. The rest of it is your wanting to showcase your believed superiority, and label anyone who is not in step with your opinions racist, or indeed, of inferior intelligence.
As Stop The Madness would say: Render unto me a fucking break.
At any rate —- thanks for playing today’s game of “Stomp the Racist”.
Peace. Out.
Mrs. Sixx.
I do believe that (1) conflating illegal immigration with “too much Spanish speaking going on” does bely racial motivation, and (2) such racial motivation, when combined with the desire to deprive the afore mentioned Spanish speakers of citizenship even though they were born on this soil, is a dangerous policy.
You know what fascinates me the most? What makes you a citizen? The fact that you were born on this soil. That is it. Period. Just dumb luck. Why do you get to turn around and tell others with the same dumb luck that they don’t get the same benefits just because you don’t like their parents? Makes no sense to me.
Attention Angry Black Commenters-
I know that some of my posts are humorous musing about nothing or pointless snark about celebrities and such. But when it comes to issues that your Angry Black Colleagues feel passionate about, let’s try to keep the discussion civil. I will delete comments that don’t add to the debate about these sorts of serious subjects. Just because you disagree, doesn’t mean y’all need to get nasty.
(look at me, having to institute a comment moderation policy!)
Yours,
ABL
A side note on jobs…
Here’s the thing: I have worked in establishments that have employed illegal immigrants. And the jobs they hold are often the jobs that suck.
I am a 30 year old, semi-college educated white gal, who lives hand to mouth. And I still would not take a job as a dishwasher unless it was literally the LAST JOB EVER. And even then…I’d consider welfare before taking it. (Ok, I’m half kidding…but I’m also not.)
Illegal immigrants, for the most part, are not taking the jobs that your average American citizen wants. Bus boys, dishwashers, line cooks, prep cooks, gardeners…these are not the jobs that most of us yearn to have growing up, and be honest–these are usually the jobs we take when we a) have no other option b) are desperate for money c) have another passion we are pursuing [read--we take these jobs as our 'paycheck' job so we have time to do what we love].
Would being a clerk at Target be included in that? Maybe. But I do find it hard to believe that Target would hire anyone who did not speak English fluently to actually staff their floors and interact with customers, despite the predominance of Spanish speaking people in the area (and I live in LA, so it’s not like I don’t hear Spanish all the time). Would they hire someone who did not speak English fluently to stock shit and move stuff around? That, I would totally buy. And they probably pay them a shit wage, because they can–an illegal immigrant (Spanish speaking or otherwise) is not going to bitch about being paid pennies for a hard fucking job, or for any job. They just want to work. And a lot of companies love cheap labor.
Is it fair that being bilingual is a necessary job requirement in certain sectors/areas of the country? I dunno, I’m not here to judge on that. What I will say is that, until companies are willing to pay good (or even decent) money to the jobs that suck, most average Americans are not going to seek or take those jobs unless they have no other choice. Which means those jobs are left to those who are willing to staff them.
Puerto Rican aren’t illegal Puerto Ricans are citizens of this country its the mexicans that gotta run