Careful Whose Side you Take

I happen to believe in free immigration. Should a person desire to come to the US, they should be allowed to do so without any hassle at all, unless one or more of the following is true:

• they have been previously deported from the US, or are under a current deportation order
  
• they have been barred by lawful court order from entering or being in the US
  
• they have been barred by lawful executive order from entering or being in the US
  
• they have been convicted of a prior felony committed in the US or against a US citizen or US interests abroad

In other words, I have no problem with the massive waves of (mostly-Mexican) immigrants coming into the US to work, and sending money home to their families. Hey, let's face it: it's how most of our ancestors got here. It's just that most of our ancestors didn't have to face the kind of immigration laws we have now.

On another note, I know that many Mexicans are, like most of the world, huge soccer fans. I realize that Mexicans have pride in their soccer team. I applaud that. Part of the world tradition of soccer fandom includes boisterous rooting for your team, and taunting of the other team. All well and good.

But with all that said, you guys ought to seriously consider how you choose to taunt the US at this point: we're kind of touchy about a few subjects right now. 'Cause I'd hate for this kind of idiocy to cause the US to effectively close our borders and start expelling our guests. And if it is not an isolated incident, it could seriously turn Americans against immigration, and that would be bad for all of us.

Posted by Jeff at February 12, 2004 04:01 PM | Link Cosmos