I opposed the latest salvo from Immigration Meanies Anonymous voted by the Massachusetts Senate.
Thank you to my senator, Ken Donnelly, for the courage to say NO.
Why? Because my grandparents were all immigrants – before immigration became a broken system of beaurecratic quotas and unintended consequences.
Did you know it can take 10 YEARS to help your sons and daughters join you – legally? Or your spouse? Nowadays, anyway.
My mother was born in New York; her mother died in the flu pandemic of 1918 (and there is a LOT I can say and a little I have said about THAT).
My father was born in England, his brother in Denmark, and five of his brothers and sisters in the United States. All seven of them got married, stayed married, and all but one began successful small businesses, from a Dental Technology lab, to construction.
My mother’s father, Peisach Mandel, sent his passport back to the old country several times – so friends could join him here. As far as I know, all of those friends also created families, businesses, and paid taxes. Of course, that was not “legal” but neither was there technology to track who was the real Peisach Mandel.
On the whole, it is survivors who leave a bad situation, bravely cross oceans, and buckle down to thrive in a new land.
Think about it. Just who is to blame for the fact that some immigrants are legal – and some are not; some can come in, and some can not.
If you really want to understand immigration policy the best site is the one created by the National League of Women Voters as part of its Immigration Study.
Did you know, by the way, that U.S. Corn Subsdies drove 1,000,000 Mexican corn farmers into bankruptcy – and many of them crossed the border to try and feed their families. The law of unintended consequences strikes again!
deporting illegals when economic times got tough. Since JFK was THE last legitimate American President, it makes perfect sense.