Arizona, "wetbacks", and dirty cops...

As I'm sure you're aware, Arizona has recently passed a law making it a crime to break the law. One would expect it to be enforced by the Department of Official Redundancy Department, but apparently it's supposed to be enforced by every agency in the state.

Now, let's talk about the aspect of immigration. Personally, I'm all for it. What I don't like about illegal immigration is NOT the fact that people don't feel like waiting for years (or even decades) while sitting through red tape, but rather, the way our government makes things so complicated.

Obviously, having a very porous border is dangerous, from a national security aspect. We have ZERO control over what goes through our borders...both of them. Daily, we see episodes of "border violence" spilling over from Mexico, as a result of our government's prohibition of certain illicit substances.

Does this mean I have a problem with the Mexican people? HELL, NO! Anyone who wants to give an honest day's work for an honest day's wage at fair market value should have the freedom to do so.

The Mexican culture has given me so much that it's not even funny. The sense of liberty that I feel so strongly about, that was bred into me as a resident of the Great State of Texas, would likely not be present if it weren't for the multitudes of Mexican citizens rebelling against Santa Anna. In case you've forgotten...they fought, bled, and died right alongside white settlers for the cause of Texas Independence.

Today, those in the Brazosport area take decent Mexican food and cheap lawn care for granted, as they have become cliche as SUVs with excessive chrome, neck tattoos from jail, and seventeen children in the back of a pickup truck.

But is that what it means to be a Mexican in America? Hardly. Those who bitch and moan about "those damned dirty wetbacks and their anchor babies" don't have a clue. You can't fault someone for wanting a better life for themselves. And honestly, you can't really fault those who are American citizens, and don't want to see them over here.

Every week, I see almost a solid third of my paycheck go toward taxes, with ZERO return on this "investment". I have an "on the books legal" job, I have a valid social security number, I have a valid driver's license, and everything else necessary to be a "productive" member of society...which, essentially, means I have everything necessary for the government to steal from me. I'm nowhere not in the lowest tax bracket, but I'm not by any means "rich". I'm getting by, but still earning less than the average "on the books" American. One third of my check is gone before I ever see it, because I don't have the write-offs to keep it.

Unfortunately, our entire government is set up to perpetuate this. Our economy is, like it or not, dependent upon cheap labor. People who earn $3 per day in Mexico will gladly come to the US and bust their ass for $3 per hour. People in the US will gladly pay $3 per hour to a Mexican if they can get away with it, and they do.

If our government had any desire, WHATSOEVER, to change the situation, they would pull their heads out of their collective ass and start doing what makes sense. Of course, in doing so, it would alleviate the need for a good bit of our government.

Of course, there are two very serious issues that simply won't be overcome in our lifetime. For starters, the average government worker earns roughly twice what the average private-sector employee earns, which takes away any real desire for reducing the necessity of our government. Second, the biggest "border security" and/or "border violence" issue is related directly to drug cartels.

So, here's what needs to be done, regarding the immigration situation, in my not-so-humble opinion...and most importantly, WHY it needs to be done:

A) ELIMINATE DRUG PROHIBITION.
This should be common sense for any student of history. Al Capone didn't get rich because he was ruthless. He got rich because he was ruthless and willing to supply a market with a product that had been outlawed. Eliminate drug prohibition, and you instantly castrate the drug cartels. When you make a product available for anyone with a valid license (such as they do with booze), you keep the market filled with entrepreneurs who are willing to obey the law.

B) SIMPLIFY THE IMMIGRATION/CITIZENSHIP PROCESS.
Again, this should be common sense. If a person wants to be an American citizen, let him fill out the paperwork, denounce his previous citizenship, and become an American. Encourage him to learn English, appreciate his new homeland, and stop driving him into the underground. Let him get his papers, his Social Security card, and a W2 form so he can start paying taxes like the rest of us.

C) GET OUR TROOPS OUT OF FOREIGN MILITARY BASES, AND PUT THEM ON THE BORDER.
We have over 700 military bases worldwide. Close down half of them, relocate them to both our Mexican AND Canadian borders, and we can have a base every 20 miles. Force everyone wishing to come into this nation to fill out the proper paperwork, and go through an approved point of entry...and shoot EVERYONE that refuses to comply. Keep in mind, this can be accomplished by closing only HALF of our overseas bases.

If we were to do these three things, we would have no more problem with illegal immigration. No more will you see people being gunned down in border towns over drug-related violence, because there is a controlled and regulated market. You see no more whorehouses specializing in 15 year old Mexican girls near the ship channel, because these girls don't have to be smuggled across the border. You don't see day laborers having to wait in the Home Depot parking lot (while hiding when the cops roll by), because they are able to have a legal job.

Most importantly, you have stripped away the biggest threat to the freedom of actual American citizens. I can't count the number of times my car has been ransacked by cops, who have gone on fishing expeditions for dope after pulling me over for the most trivial of reasons (yes, one even pulled me over because my taillights weren't "red enough"!). Cops must justify their jobs by inventing problems, in the absence of actual problems. While the majority of agencies do not refer to this as a "quota" system, most acknowledge that a "minimum performance standard" exists. In other words, a cop has to write a specific amount of tickets and make a specific amount of arrests, or face either disciplinary action or a lack of promotion (and the benefits that go along with it).

If you do away with the criminality of drugs, you've instantly done away with the crime that consumes the majority of the time and money spent by our government with regard to law enforcement. Our border patrol doesn't care about illegal immigrants, they want to bust a truckload of dope. Our local cops don't care about burglars, they want to bust the guy with a roach in his ashtray.

In the case of Arizona, the big new thing is now the issue of catching "illegal aliens", because that's where the budget money is gonna flow (just as it is elsewhere already, with drugs)...which is why we've already seen at least one American citizen arrested and detained for failure to produce a birth certificate after being pulled over on a chickenshit traffic stop.

This issue is NOT about illegal immigration, but rather, about a government power grab. It has used the "illegal immigration" issue to garner support. It relies on both unabashed racism in the form of supporters who want to see "all those wetbacks sent back across the border", as well as people who work for a living and pay taxes who get tired of seeing a bunch of illegals they are paying for in the Emergency Room because they can't legally get health coverage.

The notion of "reasonable suspicion" is, pure and simple, BULLSHIT. There is no possible way to have a "reasonable suspicion" that a person may be an illegal immigrant, without violating the law against racial profiling. I am white as a raw biscuit, but I don't even possess a birth certificate with my legal name on it. Are they going to throw me in jail until I produce one (or, for that matter, even ASK me for one), if I get stopped by a cop in Arizona? Doubtful.

Arizona is, interestingly enough, home to not only a metric shitload of illegal immigrants, but also a whole lot of UNITED STATES CITIZENS WHO HAPPEN TO BE OF HISPANIC ORIGIN...just like Texas, and many other border states.

Take, for instance, my little brother. He is currently 22 years old. His father's heritage is half Mexican and half Spaniard, although this man's youngest immigrant ancestor came here three generations ago. On our mother's side, there's a bit of Comanche in our blood. While my father was the son of East Texas hillbillies, my brother's father was not. He has very distinct "native" features, given the overwhelming presence of native blood in his veins. He is dark-skinned, has straight dark hair, et cetera...and, given the environment he grew up in, speaks fluent Spanish and his English has a Hispanic accent. My brother is, for all intents and purposes, a Hispanic American...but, most importantly, he is an AMERICAN, just the same as you and I. He doesn't carry a birth certificate around with him in public, either.

Is he any less of an American than his half-brother, even though we were both born and raised the the Great State of Texas? Imagine, if you will, the following hypothetical situation:

Me and my half-brother are born and raised in Arizona, under the same set of circumstances concerning our parents. We both get really hammered drunk together at mom's house one night, wake up in the morning, and decide to take a leisurely stroll down to the local diner. Because we're both very hung over, neither one of us has shaved all weekend, and we look "suspicious" for walking down the street in such a manner (it's happened to my pasty ass, so please don't tell me it can't happen!), and we've both left our wallets at home. It's long-since been a habit of mine to not carry my money in my wallet, as it was something I picked up from my father...and my brother never has any money, so this scenario is a bit more than just "possible"! Anyhow, we get stopped. Being half-brothers, we have different last names, and the fact that we're both blind as bats and wear glasses is about the only physical characteristic we actually share. To this day, it's hard to convince people we're actually brothers if those people don't know our family history.

I'm the grey-haired white guy wearing Levi's and a pair of work boots. He's the 22 year old Mexican dude with hair halfway down to his ass, with a wife-beater that shows off the pot leaf tattoo on his shoulder. When the cop chirps his siren to stop us, who faces the "reasonable suspicion" of being an illegal immigrant? Is it the aging white dude, or is it the Mexican kid? Remember, we're brothers. Neither one of us has ID. I grew up around hillbillies, and speak with a slight southern drawl. He grew up around his Hispanic family, and speaks with the appropriate accent of someone who has done so.

In all likelihood, I'm going to be walking back to mom's house, so we can round up an attorney and go down to the I.C.E. detention center...hopefully, with this poor bastard's birth certificate in my hand, so I can spring him from jail.

This is America? FUCK YOU, ARIZONA!