“But Ruth replied, ‘Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. I will go wherever you go and live wherever you live.  Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. I will die where you die and will be buried there.  May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!” (Ruth 1:16-17, New Living Translation)  This is one of the first immigration stories found in Scriptures (the first being Abraham) and the first voluntary migration that God did not personally direct (Joseph was an immigrant but it was not voluntary).

 

There was an interesting lecture delivered by Congressman Lamar Smith of Texas that was delivered on July 30, 2007 as part of The Heritage Foundation’s “Heritage Lecture Series”.  While I found that the presentation serves as a good foundation, I wanted to lay out something first.  I believe that the political strategy implemented by President Bush through the national Republican Party has effectively left anti-amnesty Hispanics without an outlet to express their views.  Hispanics who are in favor of protecting our borders and not granting a legal status to illegal aliens have no national outlet to express their views.  I am certainly not implying that Hispanics with this viewpoint are in the majority, but I also know anecdotally that I am not the only one. This is one of many reasons why I felt compelled to start this blog.

 

Now back to Congressman Smith’s presentation.  Many Americans of Hispanic descent who are against porous borders and illegal immigration would agree with one of Smith’s themes that: “Legal immigrants play by the rules, wait their turn, and come in the right way.  Others cut in front of the line, break our laws, and enter illegally.”  Their inability to find a national forum to express their views has resulted in allowing those with an agenda of prejudice a free ride to express their negative views on everything Hispanic. This has increased the “chilling effect” on Hispanics who are anti-amnesty from speaking out.

 

Smith mentions a poll that said: “... [A]lmost half the residents of Mexico said they would move to the U.S. if they could.” I believe that.  I also believe that the Mexican government uses illegal immigration to the US as conscious political plan to maintain the status quo in Mexico.  A status quo where the overwhelming part of Mexico’s wealth is concentrated in a very small upper class and policies that develop a middle class workforce under a capitalist model are discouraged. The US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (of which I was once a member) is or should be aware of this, but will not speak to that issue when they engage in the immigration reform debate.

 

In the interest of full disclosure, let me say that when I was actively engaged in the practice of law in New Jersey, I represented many injured workers who were illegal aliens in workers compensation courts.  My experience was that once they were injured doing their job, their employer should not be allowed to have a “free ride” and workers compensation insurance coverage should be provided.  I was especially aware that many employers knew or should have known that these workers were illegal; and, that these employers actually wanted the illegals because they could pay them less and intimidate them to be silent.  Based on this experience, I agree with the Congressman that: “Illegal immigration will never be brought under control as long as the easy availability of jobs remains such a strong magnet.”  We must make it “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt” possible for employers to know when a prospective employee is legally able to work; and, punish with civil and criminal penalties those employers who continue to employ illegals.  Congressman Smith along with Congressman Peter King (R-NY) have introduced the “Secure Borders FIRST Act” that keys in on the employer as a key element of America’s recapturing control over immigration.

 

There are other points of the Smith presentation and its description of the Secure Borders FIRST Act that I find need tweaking, but those points are for another day.

 

By the way, once the Border is secured by electronic and physical fencing, a beefed up enforcement mechanism is in place against employers who hire illegals, and a “Marshall Plan” is put in place to return illegal aliens to their country of origin, the US should streamline legal immigration and increase the number of “legal immigrants” who can enter on an annual basis.  Many legal immigrants are the “Ruths” of today; and the Ruth of yesterday was part of the ancestral line that produced Jesus of Nazareth.

 

 

 

 

October 3, 2007 - I think that prior to commenting on the issues of our time (or the issues of All Times), I'd like to state why I believe doing this blog is important.  After all, there are thousands (if not millions!) of Blogs in the Cyberworld and it would not surprise me if there is at least one out there that closely approximates the themes and topics I hope to dwell on.  And if there is, it also would not surprise me if the Blogger (with a similar theme) is witter and more lucid in their style than I.  So why another Blog on Christian (Faith) and/or Conservatives and/or of Color?
    Basically I am doing this for my sons; my oldest is in college and my youngest is a high school freshman.  I am doing this because I have traveled a long and somewhat unique road in the experience called "Americana." I feel it is important for me to share my life experiences and opinions on current events with them, especially since they may not have access to this thought process from any other source.  While I would like to someday write a book or books on my memoirs, I am enough of a realist to know that it may never happen because of life's responsibilities, among other things.  So at least for now, this Blog will have to do
    I also want to expose them to a side of the Internet that they normally just don't explore. I know they know about My Space and Facebook and ESPN; they know how to find their assignments on the Internet.  But they don't know about Townhall.com and Russ Limbaugh, the Counterterrorism Blog, even the great resources found with Christian apologists/teachers such as Ravi Zacharias, R.C. Sproul and John MacArthur.  And they know about great Christian leaders like James Dobson and Pat Robertson, but their exposure to these great men of God are through their parents, not the schools they go to.  Even less so through the mainsteam news media and outlets such as MTV, CNN and all these "reality" shows.
    It is for this reason that I will try to share my thoughts in this format.  While I not arrogant enough to think that anyone besides my family will care what is said here, if you find that there are tidbits worth chewing and digesting, feel free to do so.  I only ask that if you do decide to comment, you can do it strongly but tastefully.  I promise that anything I write will be something that I would allow my boys to read (by the way, I do sometimes insist on their turning off certain programs on cable and I do monitor their Internet surfing).  Eventually, I hope to have links to sites that I would like my sons to have exposure to; but I imagine there must be some Bloggers and/or Internet Rules of Etiquette, so I'll only do that linkage when I have obtained permission.