pondering

ABC news report via The Drudge Report, """It's just really stupid, what is happening," Vicky Delarenal said. "I think this country is made of immigrants and I think again, we just need to keep fighting for this. That's why I'm here, just to support the people.""

The same can be said about Canada, largely made up of immigrants.... well it was a few hundred years ago at least, before the immigrants established homes, towns, cities, and a government. So how long can the statement "we are all immigrants" go on rationally? My great great X?? grandparents were immigrants, my paternal great grandfather was an immigrant, possibly coming over with the Home Children from the UK.... but I never even met the guy. My son is a 'landed immigrant' or a 'permanent resident' (depending who you talk to) because he was born in England. But I was born in Alberta Canada and he can live here because of that. My mom's family is dated back to the late 1700s in New Brunswick but they were all long gone by 200 years before I was born. They built their lives here and then moved forward, just like every other country in the entire world.

If you think about it, EVERYWHERE was built by immigrants in one way or another, from one time or another. Migrating tribes of early humans wandered all over the place, before boundaries were set. Some countries were overtaken by war but their citizens still immigrated to the new lands regardless. North America is no different - populated by people who moved from other countries and set up a new life and set up NEW LAWS as they went along. As Obama himself said in a video taped comment ""we live in a country of laws..we don't do things based on one person's situation, no matter how painful..."""

So if people are moving to the US, Canada, etc from other countries and not following the legal channels, and then using the systems that tax payers have to fund (medical care, education, social welfare systems, transportation, etc), why should that be ignored and just allowed to continue? It is very costly! Not to mention, if you want to think about the people themselves, difficult for them to excel in life if they keep themselves under the wire and hiding from govt agencies all the time.

Perhaps immigration should be made a bit easier and this would help people WANT to go through legally. My friend married an American, in the USAF, and she went to university for 4 years in the US. She was a teacher there, had a job for years, gave birth to a son there, and STILL did not have her citizenship. It was ridiculous, all the red tape and screwups. So maybe that system needs to be overhauled to 'make sense' and help people instead of being a total deterrent.... The Canadian immigration book made my eyes roll back in my head and it's supposed to be easier than the US... so perhaps we need to re-think that system and tweak it. But you know that people will still come in illegally, because that's just what some people do - ignore laws, believe they are Above The Law, and just simply not care.

At the end of the day, I do not believe that saying 'this country was build by immigrants' has anything to do with what is happening today. There was no govt way back then, or very little. If someone moved here, they had to look after themselves. There was no welfare system. They had to build their own home, get a job and be a productive member of society, and carry on... or they would die. Times have changed and the attitude has to as well.