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Tuesday, May 22, 2007
He’s here legally and resents some illegal immigrants
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I had a fender bender last month and shared my experience with you in this blog.
There person who hit my car was nice and I suspected that he was in the United States illegally because he asked me not to call police and offered to pay for the damage. I still don’t know his immigration status, but he did have insurance and I am on my way to getting the car repaired.
I stopped at a convenience store in Duluth on my way home recently. The clerk recognized my picture from the paper. He has been reading my blogs (at least there’s one of you out there) and he read my views about illegal immigration with particular interest.
“I came to this country from Bangladesh in 1991,” he said. “I came here on a visa, I filed my application for a green card in 2001, and I got my card in 2005. I got married, and I now have a beautiful eight-month-old daughter. My wife applied for her green card in 2005, and she has at least two years to wait before her application is approved. We have to do the same thing for my daughter, as she was born in Bangladesh as well.
“I love this country. There are so many wonderful opportunities if you want to work hard. People are friendly. Americans sometimes take for granted how wonderful this country is, and it surprises me a little bit. But the country is fair, and the people are fair, and if Americans don’t realize it, I certainly do.
“What I resent is these people in Latin America, who basically step out of their backyard and work, send money home, and don’t do anything to be a citizen. My home is 3,000 miles away. These people hop on a car drive home, whenever they want to.
“It’s not fair. I don’t hate these people, and I’m not prejudiced against them. I do things the right way. I do what this country has asked me to do, and I am proud to do it. I resent these people who don’t do that. They are cheating, stealing from this country. I play by the rules. Why can’t they?”
My friend made an excellent point. The rules have to be the same for everybody. If they are not, then we must look at ourselves, not them, and ask why they aren’t.
Immigrants best tell the story of what America is by working hard and showing everyone how successful you can be. Those who are here illegally don’t play by the rules. They make America cheap by taking advantage of the blind eye that business and politicians turn on them.
I wish my friend well, and I hope that this country’s opportunities prove fruitful for him, for his family and for generations of American citizens to come.
Do you have friends or neighbors who are immigrants? How do they feel about immigration in America?
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