"The Minutemen are the modern version of the KKK." - Nativo Lopez, Mexican-American Political Association.  Bill O'Reilly Show, October 6, 2006.

Did anybody see this?  Nativo Lopez actually compared the Minutemen to the KKK, whilst in another breath attacking anti-illegal immigration folks for hate speech.

Why are double-standards so acceptable these days? 

The KKK murdered people.
The KKK tortured people.
The KKK masked themselves in costumes that became synonymous with terror.
The KKK discriminated against American citizens just based on the color of their skin.
The KKK was financially and morally corrupt and controlled local populace with blackmail.

Okay, now would it be fair to say that Nativo Lopez, in his comparison of the Minutemen to the KKK, was saying that the Minutemen are:

- Killers
- Torturers
- Hiding themselves to avoid punishment and judgment
- Discriminating against American citizens based on the color of their skin
- Financially and morally corrupt and controlling local populace with blackmail

???

And would it be fair to say that such a comparison, since it is easily proven grossly untrue, is hate speech?  If I walked up to Nativo Lopez and called him a murderer, torturer, etc., the ACLU would be ALL over my butt suing me for every last dollar I have.  But no.  Not a Mexican!  Not a left-wing discriminator!  They have all the rights that I don't have. 

Okay.  That Nativo Lopez thing really was just for an opener.  It's not the meat of what I want to say here.  The meat relates to the title of this post, which is "Illegal Immigration NOT a Human Rights Issue."  It's not about the color of Mexican skin.  It's not about Mexicans.  Why the illegal immigration of Mexicans is WRONG really has nothing to do with Mexicans. 

If Canadians were tunneling underground and crawling over fences to get in here in massive numbers, I'd be against it.  It would be wrong.  If Irishmen were swimming over or rowing over in john boats, I'd be against it.  If Chinese people were sneaking in in rented submarines, I'd be against it!  It would be equally as wrong as illegal Mexican immigration.  So let me get that down right now - it's not about Mexicans.

Therefore, since it's not about Mexicans, any inference to discrimination or human rights is ridiculous.  Because remember, we could just as easily replace the word Mexican with Canadian or German or Namibian.  The only difference is - with respect to Canada, most Canadians don't care to come to America because the way of life in Canada is quite acceptable to most Canadians.  Plus they know that they could never get away with being an illegal Canadian here.  No one would hire them, right?  With respect to Germans or Irishmen or whoever - the only difference there is that their countries aren't sitting on our border.  So, to reiterate, it's not about Mexicans.

Further, to illustrate even more that it's not about Mexicans, how about we evaluate the immigration policies of other countries?  Say, Canada, or Russia, or South Africa, or hey, MEXICO.  What do they do with illegal immigrants?  I'll tell you what they do.  They send them back.  They don't take excuses.  To be a non-citizen in another country, you better have your travel identification and you better speak their language.  Otherwise you're up a creek without a paddle.

So, yet another double-standard.  Mexico and every other country in the world is allowed to inforce their border laws without getting screamed at, but America must be called horribly indecent for doing so.  And in other countries, it's not about Mexicans either, believe it or not.  It's not about any one particular group of people - it's about anyone.  Anyone who doesn't belong there.  In illegal immigration - the illegal refers to anyone who can't provide documentation of citizenship.  So, believe it or not, it's not about Mexicans.

But why, you ask?  Why is it not about Mexicans?  Here's why:

Because anyone coming to America in mass numbers who doesn't work or pay taxes, but still consumes resources, would cause the exact same detriment that illegal Mexicans are causing and have caused to this country. 

Okay, now let me add a disclaimer to that statement, because I'm sure people like Nativo Lopez would get stuck on one part of that sentence.  I said "anyone coming to America in mass numbers who doesn't work."  But Mexicans work!  You say.  Mexicans are a hard-working bunch of people!  Here's the truth, and I know it's true because I spent the last two years living in Phoenix, Arizona.  SOME Mexicans work.  SOME.  SOME, mostly men.  But the other SOME, and I won't say percentages because I don't know, of Mexican men, stand outside Wal-mart or Home Depot all day hoping someone will come hire them.  One Mexican man generally won't get hired every day either.  Now, as for the other SOME, meaning illegal Mexican women and children, they generally don't work at all.  A few of them do, but most of them aren't able to do the labor that the men do.  So they don't work.  The women have babies instead.  The kids go to school, of course. 

Alright, so what does all of this mean?  SOME Mexicans work, day laborers.  They make a little bit of under-the-table money, most of which goes back to Mexico and not to the U.S.  The women generally don't work, and the children generally don't work.  So, here we have three subgroups of people (men, women, children) who are not taxed and who contribute overall very little to the economy. 

And yet, they use TAXED resources, such as roads, schools, healthcare.  And since there are millions upon millions of them, they use a whole lot of resources. 

What does that mean for the taxpayer?  That means, if you live in an area with a lot of Mexicans, you aren't getting all that you pay for.  That 30-35% that you could sure use out of your paycheck - that's going to help pay for the vaccinations of Aurelio and Maria's 8th child.  That's going to help schools where they say the Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish.  That's going to welfare and Medicare and food stamps and what not for people who do not contribute to society and by and large refuse to even learn English.

But Mexicans DO contribute to society, you say.  They do hard labor jobs that most Americans wouldn't want to do.  Well, all I can say to that is, did all of these hard labor jobs suddenly just pop up in the last 20 years?  Did Americans not do them before?  Would those sitting on unemployment really turn such jobs down if they paid a decent wage?  The answer to that is of course not.

In fact, when Mexicans do work, what really happens?  They drive down wages for the rest of us.  They make business owners face an enormous challenge to compete - do I hire illegals and pay them less so that I can stay in business with my competitors, who already use illegals, or do I stick to my guns, do the right thing and lose my business?  Mexicans also contribute to the waning of the middle class.  In Los Angeles, did you know that 71% of the people there are either millionaires or they're making less than $15,000 a year, according to CNN? 

The middle class in Los Angeles has all but disappeared.  What happens when there is no middle class?  You get horrific situations like spawned the Communist Revolution in Russia. 

Why is the middle class disappearing?  When you're middle class, that 35% that gets taken from your paycheck every two weeks is a big deal.  To have that 35% go to something that you will actually have to just pay for again, because someone else is using it up and not paying for it, is disastrous.  That's the problem.  If you're very poor, you can depend on the government for everything - your life may not be the ritz, but you can have a place to live, food to eat, free education, free healthcare.  If you're rich, of course you can have a great life without much cramping in your style.  But if you're middle class - it's your responsibility to find housing, to find food, to find education, to find healthcare.  You make too much money to get handouts.  But the problem is - most of us who qualify as middle class DON'T always have enough money for housing, healthcare, education.

I could never have afforded a house in Phoenix, for instance, unless I'd been willing to do some crazy loan that I would have defaulted at any point that I or my husband worked less than overtime every week.  Where does a first-time homebuyer get $300,000 for a house?  Or how about those of us who work for a small business, or a business with crappy healthcare, which a lot of them are these days, and then we're paying the equivalent of a compact car to see a doctor?  Or how about the situation I'm facing - my husband doesn't make enough money to support me and a kid - but childcare is $700 a month where I live.  $700 would be more than two weeks pay for me. 

But I've diverted.  This isn't meant to hone in on the middle class crisis, but I want to show the impact that illegal immigration does have on the middle class. 

So the point of all this is - IT'S NOT ABOUT MEXICANS!  It's about the problems that arise when people use resources without contributing.  (Not even to mention that our leaky borders are also our biggest national security issue as well.) 

The reason I have endeavored to say all this is because I am so incredibly tired of being called a racist.  I'm tired of people spouting off about things that make no sense.  I'm tired of being attacked as a horrible person for wanting the best for this country and it's citizens.  I'm tired of people saying I discriminate, when I most certainly don't.  I learned more Spanish than most Mexicans in the U.S. know English - and I did that because I wanted to learn about them as a people, to befriend them.  I do want the illegal Mexicans to go home - but that's not because I hate THEM.  It's because I hate being last in line for privileges and rights that should be mine as a citizen. 

I would never go to Mexico and demand anything special.  I don't think most of us would.  And why?  Because that would be wrong.  So why can't we call a spade a spade and stand up for ourselves once in a while?