We're all in this together, like it or not

At one time or another, I have received emails that either poke fun at the immigration problem (usually at the immigrants expense) or contribute to the hysteria spread throughout the media that illegals are taking over our country, bankrupting our social systems, taking all our jobs, etc.
Usually, I didn’t respond (unless I felt they were particularly abusive) because I didn’t see any viable solutions.

Personally, I didn’t find them to be funny and I don’t buy into the hype. As a third generation native of Southern California, I have always taken a small amount of pride in the cultural ties that link that part of the country to Mexico. After all, California (indeed, most of the Southwest) was once part of New Spain, then Mexico, before becoming, briefly, a republic, and then a state. Without that, the Southwest wouldn’t be the Southwest. In truth, the "little brown people" we seem to be so afraid of have lived there long before there were borders.

I don’t deny that illegal immigration is a serious problem, one that has a serious effect on our economy, as well as that of Mexico. The obvious solution is to lean heavily on Mexico to clean up its act and stop giving people reasons to leave, but no one seems willing to look at the real causes of this “invasion”, that is, until now.

I want to alert you to a real solution. Not a bumper sticker slogan, not a right wing fear pogrom, and not a corporate sponsored piece of legislation that skirts real causes to serve the special interests. This is a homegrown, truly “American” solution that addresses the problem of illegal immigration from a number of angles, including ways to create more jobs in Mexico, direct Mexicans who want to migrate through legal channels, and to help and encourage those who are already here to return to Mexico in a way that benefits them and their families.

No roundups, no deportations, no arrests, no border walls, just good solid economic solutions and incentives that real people can use. I just became aware of this website last night. Apparently, so did a lot of other people, because I couldn’t get into it until early this morning. When I did, I was very impressed with the approach these people are taking. It rarely happens these days, but once in awhile, I do run across something that makes me proud to be an American, and this is such a thing.

It’s easy to poke fun and to spread fear, but if you really care about the problem and people in general, check it out

www.matt.org

MATT stands for Mexicans and Americans Thinking Together
Golly, people working together. What a concept!


This Land

The battle you wage
against those who have lived here
must be your last
they were here
before you were born
before your father
before your grandfather
before there was a border

This land
remembers their ancestors
you have treated it
like a waste dump
a disposable commodity
loving only its flag
and its hollow slogans
while you devastate
its water
and its soil

It’s a land that gives life
while you trade in death
a land of broad horizons
you focus only on profit
a land of spirit
that you bulldoze
and pave over
a home for people
you turn into a wasteland

It’s no wonder
your soul has a hole
as big as the sky