[pct-l] Re: Southern Section and Immigrant Worries

[saskia.home@wanadoo.nl (Saskia)]

Hi John,

"illegals" are not "invading" the US. Talk about comparing apples and 
oranges. Or do you think the Pilgrim Fathers also invaded the US? 
People are in search of a better life. The fact that they don't have 
one at home has much to do with the way Western governments have 
conducted their foreign policy, their economic policy and their 
defence policy. Comparing the nazi army with the "illegals" trying to 
enter the US is the worst kind of comparing apples and oranges. 
Please, the nazis did not come to the Netherlands to find a better 
life for them and their children. Or maybe you feel that killing off 
Jews and crossing a border are on a par?

By the way, my parents nor grandparents did not come from the 
Netherlands. I am sure they would have wished the nazis to stay out. 
I am sure they would have liked to be able to enter any European 
country that shut them out... My grandparents actually tried to get 
out of Germany, more than into any country. Much like the "illegals" 
are trying to get away from a situation that does not give them any 
perspective. Maybe you feel that I have no right to speak as I was 
born in the Netherlands but my parents are not.

I reacted especially to the sentence where one of the former posters 
said that when someone does something illegal, then they might be 
prone to hurt you. I thought that was very short-sighted. Not all of 
our laws are made to avoid hurting other people. Crossing a border 
will never rate as 'hurting another person' in my book.

The fact that we are calling people "illegal" says much about the way 
we view them, no longer as people but as some kind of phenomenon or 
as numbers.

Does Europe have problems with "illegals"? Sure, and I am working as 
hard as I can to make sure that people, and especially people in 
power, will see that trying to keep out people with nowhere to turn 
(whether that is due to political or economic reasons, and who said 
economics is not political...) is in the long run no solution. I am 
trying to start a discussion over here on the possibilities of 
another kind of migration policy. When people are dying because they 
want a chance for a better future, I think our governments are doing 
something terribly wrong.

CU
Saskia

>>Don't be ridiculous. No human being can be illegal. You can do 
>>something illegal, but no person can possibly be illegal! And 
>>politically correct or no: if someone does something illegal, that 
>>does not mean that they will - you know - hurt you. If I smoke 
>>marihuana, I may be doing something illegal, I am not hurting you! 
>>When my family sought a hiding place not to get deported to a death 
>>camp during world war II, they were helped by people who did lots of 
>>illegal things, but they did not usually - you know - hurt you. When 
>>locals tell you that in their experience they have only encountered 
>>pleas for water, then why would you assume that they are wrong.
>>
>Saskia,
>
>As the saying goes, "you are comparing apples and oranges". The 
>"illegals" are invading the US for their economic gain. We seek 
>nothing more that they stay out of the US; much like your family 
>wished the Nazis would have stayed out of the Netherlands.
>
>The US and North America is NOT alone in this. According to news 
>reports, much of Europe has similar problems with "illegals" 
>entering the wealthier countries to enrich themselves.
>
>John