I don't think we can hate people who have the bad luck to grow up poor. And we have to be careful to confuse stupidity with lack of education. I've been to Haiti and to Costa Rica and I've seen the barrios of Caracas. I'd want to come to America, too. The guy paying a coyote to smuggle him across the border is grateful for a job hosing down the floor of a slaughterhouse, he's not planning a coup. But I think we have a right to demand that he learn English, not fly his hometown flag, and not be a criminal.

"Gang-related homicides now account for 68% of all child and adolescent homicides in Los Angeles county. The root causes of violent street gang formation are poverty, stressed families, unemployment, under-employment, undereducation, racism, and the breakdown of sociocultural institutions." (The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) October 4, 1995)

We have a right and obligation to demand a process that does not implode our country. I can't just overstay my visa or enter a foreign country illegally, thus there has to be respect for the countries and borders of every country. Ever tried sneaking into Mexico? They really frown on it.

We have to direct our anger to the sell-outs and corporate pander patrol in Washington. We have been complacent...If 100,000 people would link arms with the Minutemen or write their Senators, the sluggards in Washington would listen. It's our fault in many ways.

Since this thread started, I have been meaning to write my senators. Have I? No, not yet. Complacency in action.

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