The threat of mass deportations looms as the pending administration panders to the belief that all illegal immigrants are murderers, rapists and druggies. In my view, they are desperate men, many with families, looking for a new life filled with security and hope. They want a job. Deportations will decimate the agricultural sector where it’s been reported that 40% of field hands are illegal. Look about. Clerks, construction workers and shoppers are speaking Spanish. All are legal? What does our country have to gain by expelling these people? The media, feeding our our unease with strangers, rants about the occasional immigrant crime while ignoring myriad transgressions by American citizens. Shall we spend millions upon millions randomly throwing illegals out while ignoring their contributions to our society?
Heres an idea: Screen the illegals, eject all criminals and give work permits and English as a second language classes for those who pass muster. The news people will hate these ideas because nobody will pay to listen or read about success stories. The unions will moan that foreigners are stealing American jobs. All the hysteria aside, let’s not forget what the Statue of Liberty proclaims: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” That includes illegal immigrants.
Bill Lyons
Santa Clarita
