Immigration Woes

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"Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?" 

Donald J. Trump, January 11, 2018

News anchors are struggling with reporting this quote. Wolf Blitzer couldn't bring himself to say the word while Erin Burnett said it with no problem. This statement was made public by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and confirmed by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC). The conversation began with talks about immigration and DACA or Dreamers as part of bi-partisan protections for immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador, and African countries. All this right before his speech honoring MLK Jr. and encouraging all to celebrate the day with acts of civic work and service, while he played golf from his FL resort.

How can this get any worse you ask?

Well, Jorge Garcia was deported to Mexico leaving his wife and children behind. He was brought to the U.S. illegally by relatives and has been here ever since. Thirty years he has called the U.S. home and now has been sent back to a country he does not know. Since I re-posted a Michigan United post on Facebook my republican friends have come crawling out of the woodwork. Their claim is that Jorge had 30 years to follow the laws but he chose the disrespect them. I was a little bit uneducated in this area so I did some research and found a very informative website explaining immigration laws (Immigration for dummies I suppose). I posted the website for my friends to visit and educate themselves too. However, a discussion concluded without my friends doing their homework and trying to counteract my argument with baseless facts (faux) with no sources. All the while, they were telling me that my argument was opinion and they wanted to open my eyes to the truth. The debate became exhausting so I had to disengage from it. 

What can we do?

Continue to fight the fight. Continue to spread the truth(s). Unfortunately, continue to do the research and share your findings. If we stand back and expect some folks to do their own research we will be facing the same fight over and over. Stand strong in your beliefs and don't let anyone tell you that your opinions don't matter.