Our de facto immigration policy was
"Hey, we know we have these immigration laws on the books, but -- wink, wink -- no problemo. We'd like you to come here and work.Millions of impoverished Latin Americans took us up on our offer, relied on our de facto immigration policy to start a life here.
You're cordially invited to do so.
We're leaving it real easy for you to sneak into the country, and if you accept our invitation, there will be jobs for you, and employers won't check very hard to see if you have legitimate papers.
In fact, if you work hard and keep your nose clean, we won't come looking for you at all.
You know what? Why don't you sneak your family in as well, or start a family here. And send your kids to school, that's ok by us."
Was this not what we asked them to do by both our words and deeds in some respects, on some occasions, and by our silence and lack of action on others?
Was it not eminently reasonable for these dirt-floor poor economic refugees from Latin America to rely on our de facto invitation?
So how -- consistent with elementary principles of human fairness and decency - could we now suddenly turn around and say after decades of behavior to the contrary, as some right-wingers like Ann Coulter would like us to, "Hey, you're here illegally. How dare you show such a lack of respect to our sovereignty. How dare you so brazenly break our laws. We must deport you."
See the disconnect. See the unfairness?
You don't let someone establish a life, and then after you've squeezed every last drop of cheap labor out of them, change the rules of the game.
You don't exploit people and then throw them away as if they're so much garbage.
Unless you're certain right-wingers.
Maybe now even some of the less rabid variety of right-wingers can better understand the massive protests by the Hispanic community, where one of the most common themes was, they want to be treated with respect.
Talk of deportation, or even of criminalization of their presence here, shows a profound lack of respect to these human beings.
These protesters are saying to us, "America, you made a deal with us, and we relied on that. Please have respect for us and honor the deal you have made. You cannot change the rules in the middle of the game."
