Turns Out, We Need MORE Illegal Aliens

via firedoglake, a rather compelling reason to open the borders as wide as we can:

…by and large, crime is down across the board. In Arizona as a whole, it has dropped 12 percent in the past seven years. But in major Maricopa County cities with their own police forces — Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale and Tempe — the rate has dropped even faster…

So, Arizona''s crime rate has been falling faster than Mel Gibson's career* for the better part of a decade, but they need stringent immigration laws to protect them from the scourge of . . . lower crime?

It gets better, though. The new immigration law is based on the principles of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who has, quite literally, given up on every other crime besides illegal immigration. I wonder how that's working out for the people of Maricopa County (who don't have their own police forces and therefore must depend on the sheriff)?

…the more telling number may be the crime statistics for the portion of Maricopa County that is under the purview of controversial Sheriff Joe Arpaio. According to data compiled by America’s Voice, crime in that area has actually increased 58 percent since 2002.

Ouch. I have a suggestion. Let's change the new immigration law so that it solely concentrates on one man: Joe Arpaio.

*not really, but I like a colorful analogy.

I'm Not Legal

Dear Arizona Idiots:

This is how your rhetoric makes real people feel. If you think "illegal" is an acceptable way to define another human being, you are responsible for this.

Sincerely,

Personal Failure

p.s.: Racist idiots aren't worth killing yourself over. You belong right where you are, please don't jump off the bridge.

pic link

On the Border

The Arizona Senate passed a law that would make citizens of Arizona responsible for asking for proof of citizenship when they have reason to suspect any random person they see is in the US illegally.

Stop and think about that.

How would any random person know whether or not any other person was legally residing in the US? Honestly, I can't say I've seen any proof of citizenship of most people I know. I've seen my boss' driver's license, but I've never seen any of my coworkers, for example. They could all be illegal aliens, should I call the police?

HAHA. Of course not. My coworkers are all white. What am I thinking?

I lived in El Paso, TX, about 2 miles from the border with Mexico, for 3 years, so let me tell you that the above is no exaggeration. We used to see Border Patrol trucks all the time. My family never got stopped by Border Patrol, even when our license plate was stolen and we drove around for a week without one. My friends, my Hispanic, dusky, black-haired, black-eyed friends? They got stopped at least once a week. My fair-haired, pale-skinned Hispanic friends, on the other hand, got stopped as often as I did. Never.

I knew, for a fact, that my friends in El Paso were legals. I know because they had to pull out identification regularly to show to Border Patrol. Well, I knew that my brown friends in El Paso were legal, I have no idea if my fairer friends were or not. Actually, this one girl in gym was illegal*, and being a blue-eyed blonde**, she was there at graduation.

This law, if the Governor signs it, will require the citizens of Arizona to be racists, to judge their neighbors and coworkers by skin colour alone. They will have no other way of judging. Ah, the 21st Century, bringing me useless 3D movies (I lack sufficient depth perception), increased homophobia and now legally required racism. Fantastic!

*Don't be shocked. I don't particularly care about legal or illegal. She got teased for her terrible English, I got teased in general, so we naturally gravitated towards one another.

**Yes, there are very white Mexicans out there. I admit I was pretty surprised when I figured that out, and then really ashamed of being surprised.

pic link

¿Hablas Wingnuttian?

journalista, illegal aliens, undocumented workers, crime, racism, bigotry, wingnut, stupid,
I'm starting to think the journalista chronicle might be a Poe. Surely no one in real life is actually that much of a clichéd Republican. Surely not.

Her latest article begins as a screed against a government website in- ¡gasp!- Spanish. I know, right? It's insane, providing Spanish-speakers with information in Spanish. What kind of communists are we?

Journalista, in case you read this, there are many legal aliens and US citizens that speak Spanish natively, and speak English. However, and I speak from experience here, no matter how fluent you become in another language, no language will ever be as comfortable to you as your native tongue. That's why we provide translations of government notices, etc.- to ensure that nonnative speakers are absolutely clear on what it is we're trying to tell them. Asshat.

What follows next is an admission of both crimes and bigotry.

I have to admit, I don’t mind them being here. I just think that if they work, they should pay taxes like everyone else. And if they aren’t legal, the government shouldn’t be footing their bill. Living in S. California it’s nice to have someone to clean my house and keep up the yard and help me flip my houses for a really cheap price, and most illegal immigrants that I have met are really sweet, but I also don’t think that my tax dollars need to go to individuals who broke the law and came to this country illegally. If they’re here illegally, and don’t pay taxes, then they should not benefit from those of us who do put money into the system…I mean, that have our money stolen from us by the government and put into the system.

Yeah, journalista doesn't mind letting "really sweet" illegals scrub her toilets or mow her lawn or help her make money, but she doesn't want them stealing her tax dollars! How dare the people that help her make a buck quick want to drive on her roads and visit her hospitals and . . . and . . . breath her air? That's Amurkin air! It's for Amurkins!

First of all, journalista, you are committing a crime every time you pay an undocumented worker. Glass houses, my dear. I'm sorry you don't like scrubbing your own toilets, but you're a criminal.

Secondly, how could anyone possibly live in the US and not pay taxes? You pay taxes at the store, at the gas pump, and when you pay your landlord, you're helping to pay their property taxes. Nobody is not paying taxes in this country.

Next, the same person that flips houses and pays someone else to clean up after her is "taxed to death".

Honey, you aren't "taxed to death". For one thing, you're still alive, unless your ghost wrote this little bit of ridiculousness. Secondly, if you have the money to flip houses and hire a maid and a gardener, you're not poor. I'd say come talk to me about being poor, but you have people right at hand to have that discussion with: the undocumented workers you hire.

But I suppose you'd actually have to, you know, listen to them for that.