June 26, 2009
Is Illegal Immigration Ever Okay?
For this post I’m mostly going to discuss illegal immigrations coming over from Mexico.
About half of the people in Mexico live in poverty with approximately 1 in 5 living in extreme poverty. It is a tough place to live and take care of a family. A few miles away there is a land where the federal minimum wage is $6.55 an hour and going up. Even if they make less than minimum wage they still have a better chance here than where they are now. They know the trip will be dangerous and they know they may even die. But to them it is worth the risk rather than live a life in poverty.
So who can blame these souls for wanting to sneak into America? Do some of them come here to exploit our system? Yes. Do some of them come here fleeing prosecution for crimes committed in their own country? Sure. Do some of them come here planning to work hard and improve their future and their children’s futures? Absolutely.
But do pure motives make up for the fact that they are breaking the law? Do the ends ever justify the means? I can’t say it is. I can only say I have sympathy and compassion for people who feel they have to leave their families and communities behind in order to have a better chance to survive and thrive. Would you condemn a man who stole a loaf of bread to feed his starving family? Probably not.
I want illegal immigration stopped, no doubts about that. But I also think we need to do more for our neighbors to the South.
No doubts about that either.
