A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

(Aaron speaking)
The following story is good. Janet Napolitano is finally figuring out what most of us knew a long time ago. She has still left out the obvious first two steps in immigration reform, but her upcoming change will at least help carryout the third and fourth steps in a complete immigration reform.

Here is the story.

She is going to direct her strikeforces to focus on employers rather than on the employees who are coming into the country illegally (or on temp visas that soon after expire, either way the are now illegal).

Do I think that this will help? Yes. I don't think that it is what should be done first, but per a spanish saying "Something is better than nothing." I will take this change and embrace it. I think that focusing on the people who are helping to perpetuate this negative situation is a good idea. It is a much better idea than going after the families that are working here. I have said for years that "If there isn't any dinner on the table, no one will come sit down to eat" and what I meant by that is that if there aren't any jobs waiting here in the USA, people will slowly (very slowly) stop coming in. If they can continue to make the changes that they are currently making, things will work themselves out in a darwinistic type fashion. The who don't cut it and can't find a job will return to their countries. Those who do successfully assimilate into the culture and become part of multi-national families, they will remain here.

Here is another reason why I think that going after the employers is better than going after the employees via raids. Last May US ICE setup a raid on Agriprocessors, a Kosher meat processing plant in Iowa. 300 of the companies employees were arrested and have since been in jail or been deported. Due to the loss of so many of the companies resources, the plant has since gone out of business. The small town in which the company operated has felt the blow dramatically. Not to mention that this one plant processed 60% of the countries Kosher meat products. This means that the price of Kosher meat has increased dramatically. The towns people of Postville, Iowa feel that they were targeted by federal agents and have been weakened because of them. The isles of some of the local stores now have half as many people as they once did. Not only those people that were taken in the raid have left. Many more have also since left.

This is why the government needs to approach the employers first. They need to give them timelines and milestones that they need to meet in order to stay compliant.

While the changes suggested by Napolitano are good, they will only help if people congress can make the first two changes that are needed to have a successful immigration reform, those being:
1. Tighten the border.
2. Figure out a way to keep those people that are already here. (only the ones who have no criminal records)

It seems that the current fad, due to the slum economy, is to create more jobs by deporting more people. This is a stupid game. It may yield results, but is not the best solution. Once we get out of this slum, we are going to need each and every single one of these people back. The positions that they are currently filling will need to be filled again. The holes in the damn that they are plugging up will still need to be plugged up. Getting rid of them now will only delay the inevitable and obvious solution, which it to have a proper, successful, well thought out immigration reform. In five years from now, when the economy has recovered (praying that it will), and all of the currently job scrambling seems like a thing of the past, we will need these people back. We will need them as bad then as we did two years ago.

Each of us, start the necessary conversations that will spark change in peoples mind. Help everyone work together to get these changes implemented.

IT IS GETTING WORSE

(Aaron speaking)
Many of our posts deal with family fun and running. That is why we created this blog, so that we could share our story with people. Today I wanted to share a story that has me deeply concerned. It deals with immigration in the USA.

For years, decades even, we (american citizens) have enjoyed benefits of low prices due to cheap labor (just listen, this is my take on the situation). We have allowed immigrants, regardless of the legality of their stay here in the USA, to obtain a TIN (taxpayer ID number) from the IRS so that they can effectively pay their taxes, however they will never be able to retire with a social security retirement, even after paying into the system for years. In many cases, they will have paid more (either more money or for a longer period of time) than even the citizens of the USA. We have allowed them to make our food and build our houses, and we have allowed them to do that for almost always less than $10 hourly, while at the same time complaining that they don't have enough money for health insurance and they then have to exploit the medicare system.

This has all been an injustice. This has been a trespass on humans rights (again, shutup and listen if you don't agree. this is my opinion and I am entitled to it. if you disagree, write about it on your own blog). We have exploited our hispanic neighbors for many years. I don't want to play them up as victims however, as they also benefited from the situation. I have lived in Mexico and know how bad their government sucks. The people their are awesome and lovely. The food and music is the best. However, their own government has treated them worse than they deserve. Given that, they come here, however they may, and enjoy life, even with limited freedoms. It has been a win-win situation for all. So... don't think that I am trying to play the situation up as anyone being the victim to anyone else, as that is not what I am trying to say.

Enter 2009. This world is sick. I don't understand why we, the citizens of the USA, would do some of the ridiculous stuff that we are about to do.

In Arizona, they have given the ability to question people's legal status to simple traffic cops. This has proven to be a bad idea. Sherriff Arpaio's office is currently facing many lawsuits dealing with racial profiling. Over 90% of the people being picked up and who face deportation we brought in on minor charges, and most of them were never convicted of those charges. An example of such is: one man being deported after being brought in for fishing without a license... ??? Seriously!?
Here is the article. Many of them were picked up for speeding. Imagine: you are two years old. You don't get to decide even what clothes you are going to wear, what food you are going to eat, what movies you are going to watch, what sports you are going to play, nada. In this world where you are two, your parents then take you to live in a new place. Now, you are 10. Over 95% of all things you knew when you were two you have now forgotten. The people, the smells, the roads, the noises, etc. Now you are 16. You are driving down the street after school. Maybe you are failing all of your classes, maybe you aren't. Well, you just changed lanes without signaling. DING DING DING, We Have A Winner Johnny! Tell Him What He Has Won! A Free, One Way Trip To Mexico! Lets go ahead and deport this kid. That sounds like a great idea. Who cares if none of his family will be there? Who cares if he can't read or write the language? He is here illegally, right? Lets deport him. Isn't that the right thing to do? Techically yes, but only because the laws are very screwed up. It would be like a grocery store only accepting payment in pennies. No one would fit in there. Our immigration laws are at best, as screwed up as the grocery store that only accepts payment in pennies. At BEST!

In another article (click here) we see the very essence of why blanket deportation is such a bad option. Many immigrants here who are currently here illegally have had children while in the country. Our great nation recognizes these children as citizens. These children don't have a mexican citizenship or a peruvian citizenship. They are americans, as american as I am. If we deport their parents, what are the children to do? Are they to go back to their parents native country and live illegally there? How would that make the situation any better? Wouldn't depriving our own citizens of the right to live in their own country be something that should be considered not only illegal, but highly unconstitutional and a grose violation of human ethics and rights? I think say YES.

Our President Abraham Lincoln once said: “Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.” I feel that we are denying these people the rights promised in the constitution. It is true that nowhere in our legal system does it says that we have the right to enter the country illegally. And it must be supposed that if someone were to enter illegally, then it should be expected to be denied some rights and even face deportation. However, I am saying that we needed these people to come in when they did. We needed them here to help with the day to day chores of the country. They helped push our country to good times and through bad times. We had the man power, and we have it still, to police the border effectively and stop people from coming in. Are we so naive as to think that we don't know they are coming in? Are we so naive as to think that the government wasn't planning on a certain number of people to enter the country, however possible, each year? We must consider that our officials kand did nothing, as it was needed. We needed them as bad as they needed us. We have treated them as less for many years. We have conveniently used their services and committed to a mutually beneficial relationship where both parties could prosper. But what about now? What has changed? Why are we doing things so differently now? We have broken that arrangement and are treating these people as less than equals. We allowed them to come in, buy clothes and TVs and cars and houses and books and ipods and CDs and DVDplayers and many many many more things to stimulate our economy, and now we are willing to tell them that if they change lanes without signaling, that we are A) going to deport them and B) keep all of their things. And why? Because all of the sudden americans was to install sheetrock and clean hotels? We have all of the sudden decided that we want to landscape and work at fastfood locales? I think that whenever you give someone rights with the agreement that you will at a moments notice come and take all of their possessions and separate them from their families and take them out of their jobs and their schools, all in the name of rising unemployment, in that moment you need to consider that something is wrong. If we need to deport people who have served as a silent backbone for decades in order to maintain the same quality of life, then we are seriously screwed in the head folks. These people aren't free. Regardless of whatever hate mongering you may listen to, or even preach, they deserve these freedoms. Their willingness to fill the holes in the damn has been exploited for years, and it needs to be appreciated. We need to recognize their efforts, but are instead taking away their options and opportunities. I am sickened by this. I think that we are wrong. I love this country and I love the constitution, however I think that those guiding this effort are perverting the rights and powers given us through the constitution. I pray for our hispanic neighbors. I pray that they will figure out a way to survive. I tell them that this failure on our part will only make them stronger in the long run. I do not apologize to them, but rather share with them the following quote by Benjamin Franklin "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." I think that my country is lost right now. I am not sure where it is, where is has gone or when it will come back. I can tell you that the constitution is being violated as we speak. The government behind the wheel here is not what was intended. Don't give up on america. It is still the greatest country of them all.

Each of you please think about these problems and get some healthy conversation going. We are the masters of congress and only we can make the changes. Blaming this on them is not an option anymore. Only personal investments in driving the issue to resolution will fix the situation and end the injustices.

On running...again

I had so many goals and plans last year, running a half marathon, doing a mini triathlon. I ended up just jinxing myself and not doing it. This time I waited to make my announcement until I felt it was a sure thing and that I was following through with it. My half marathon is coming up in three weeks! Wow! I feel so nervous and excited just thinking about it. I see myself crossing the finish line and I get all pump up.
I have also registered for a relay race in July. I found a group of amazing women through a women's running blog, most of us have never met, but all share the same addiction for running(s0me more than others). A few of them wanted to put a team of 12 women together to run this relay race from Logan to Park City, but did not have enough people to complete their team, so they posted their need of few more runners and ended up with more people than they needed. The solution: two teams. Yes, there's enough people to be crazy like this if you just put the word out there I guess. I'm so excited and can't wait. I didn't realized this was going to go down in the middle of summer until after the fact of having registered, but we will be running 24 hrs straight, so I guess I won't be running in the sun for at least part of the time, good thing! Wish me luck! I will let you know who it goes.

Want to be crazy together for an upcoming race? Let me know, I'm always up for a good race.

Hug me!

This is how it is EVERY time she sees Skyler.