Guard the Borders

Here is today's Guard the Borders Blogburst. You'll find the blogroll in my sidebar.

Guard the Borders Blogburst
by The Freedom Folks

Illegal Aliens March On Chicago

While attending the illegal immigrant reconquista march today I made a point of stopping every so often and chatting with observers.

"Si, se puede!" was the cry of the crowd in Chicago today -- "Yes, we can!" Thousands upon thousands of illegal aliens and their supporters gathered in Union Park, then marched down Jackson Street to The Loop. Jamming the plaza, as well as the surrounding streets and sidewalks, they rallied to cheer on those who had come to speak.

They demanded legalization for all immigrants. They patted each other on the back for working hard and having dreams. They lauded politicians who devote themselves to representing "the people," which evidently, in their minds, includes "the people" who have come here illegally and don't get to vote. They demanded justice. They jeered HR4437, the House bill passed last December that would make coming here illegally a criminal offense, rather than a civil one, that calls for a fence on the border, and that would penalize anyone who hires and/or helps someone to come or stay here illegally.

Mayor Daley even got up to add his support, which made no sense:

"Don't let anyone tell you you're an immigrant," he shouted. "We're all immigrants!"

???

"Si, se puede!" Yes we can WHAT, one wonders?

Yes we can...make demands of the government, even though we're here illegally? Yes we can...break your laws then demand to not only not be penalized, but to be rewarded for it? Yes we can...take taxpayer-funded services like education and healthcare, and in exchange we'll drive down wages and refuse to assimilate? Yes we can...shout loud enough about our civil rights that the politicians will forget that civil rights are, by definition, for citizens?

Watching these people flood the streets of Chicago today, shouting angrily for what is not theirs to ask, let alone demand, I listened. Amid the shouts of "Si, se puede!" and among the signs and banners calling for legalization and guest worker programs, I listened.

I listened for an answer from within myself and found that, walking along with these thousands of people cheering and yelling and demanding, my answer hadn't changed.

No, you can't.

Vignettes From The Reconquista

I noticed this lady was crying so I asked permission to snap a photo and then asked why she was crying. She informed me that she had been working with "these folks" for a number of years and she wanted them to feel at home here.

Let me start by saying this was a very nice lady, she truly was. I'm sure those who know her would say she has an enormous heart.

But she's an idiot and indicative of a phenomena I noticed along the marches path. Upper crust white women lined the path and had a look on their faces I can only describe as a mother watching her child. It was a species of pride that galled my soul.

It was almost unbelievably arrogant, but arrogance cloaked in compassion. And this type of empty headed compassion is killing this country. We can't allow every person on the planet to enter so where do we draw the line?

Which leads us inexorably to our second vignette. I came upon a bank where most of employees had gathered on a raised brick planter to watch the march pass by. A gentleman in his mid-thirties stood nearest the end where I hopped up to join him.

I asked him his thoughts on the march. He replied that he thought it was great, that these people definitely deserved to hold a march like this. He was waxing quite eloquent when he uttered an oopsie. He went on to say that we should welcome everybody.

I queried, somewhat astonished, everyone on the planet? It was fascinating to me to watch his facial expressions cycle through surprise to astonishment. I honestly don't think he'd ever thought it through before, that we can't welcome every person on the planet no matter how much the president might want to. My interviewee had just bumped nose first into a hard reality. I noticed over and over how many people merely recited cant whenever you asked them questions about immigration, nation of immigrants, immigration has always been good, etc., etc., etc.

Yet if you followed up and began asking hard questions such as "well, should we just allow a couple of billion people to move here then?" Their eyes would get big and they'd stammer for a bit before saying no. I'd ask, so where do you draw the line? They never had a cogent answer.

I think that really sums up the public debate on immigration in America today. We want to be a nation of immigrants, yet realize this may no longer be possible as it was in the past.

A young black gentlemen provided a slightly different take. When I asked him his thoughts on the march he at first tried to avoid answering but I kept at it and finally he allowed that he thought it was a good thing. Again, that they should be allowed to march, then he uttered his own oopsie. He said he thought they should be allowed to march because they came from a poor country. When I pointed out that in terms of the whole world Mexico was actually a fairly rich country with a decent standard of living compared to many countries he was literally dumbstruck.

If today's march taught me anything it was just this. In terms of the average Jane and Joe American, the two biggest enemies proponents of sane immigration policies face are rank ignorance and romantic notions.


Immigration: An Ending And A Beginning

We've been posting about the march and rally supporting ILLEGAL immigration in Chicago today. I've really been thinking about a feeling I had as we were fighting our way out of the crowd of 100,000+. We spent about 40 minutes pushing through half a city block of the throng to make our way to public transportation.

As we finally made it through the shouting, chanting horde, we turned the corner to walk past Berghoff, which sadly shut its doors at the end of last month. For those not familiar with Chicago, Berghoff was a traditional, family-run German restaurant, an institution famous for holding the first liquor license issued by the city after Prohibition ended.

Gazing into the darkened windows of the restaurant, I felt a real sense of something ending and something beginning. Many who disagree with me on the need to fight ILLEGAL immigration often bring up our country's history of immigration and diversity, as if I am somehow maligning them by speaking out against ILLEGAL immigration.

One of the things I love most about Chicago, my favorite city and current home, is the great diversity of its residents and neighborhoods. Berghoff embodied how immigration is supposed to work in my mind. It honored the traditions of its owners' cultural history while celebrating the opportunities and freedoms of America.

That is what I did not see much of in the crowd today, and certainly did not hear from the speakers who egged them on to demand legalization and denounce HR4437. As I listened to Gutierrez and Daley and Blagojevich, I did not hear an enticement to become Americans in any real sense.

What I heard was a call to demand rights and opportunities that have to be earned. These are precious gifts bestowed upon those who are born here, and those who come here legally. They are most certainly not something to be unrightfully demanded or stolen by those who would disrespect this country and its citizens by those who choose to come, stay, and work here ILLEGALLY.

What I saw today was a defiant mission to impose a mass of people, their culture, and their language on another country. There were many claims of loving America, but talk is cheap. It is your actions that truly speak. If anyone loves this country, they will show it by their efforts to make it a better place. Since when do lawlessness, a constant breech of national security, and economic and cultural destruction make this a better place?

I love this country. I embrace and appreciate our melting pot of cultures and traditions. But our country only works when our country and its citizens come first. I would never ask another nation to put the interests of America before their own -- it's ridiculous!

It makes me angry and sad when people come here ILLEGALLY and demand that of America.

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This has been a production of the Guard the Borders Blogburst. It is syndicated by Euphoric Reality, and serves to keep immigration issues in the forefront of our minds as we're going about our daily lives and continuing to fight the war on terror. If you are concerned with the trend of illegal immigration in our country, join the Blogburst! Send an email with your blog name and url to euphoricrealitynet at gmail dot com.