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Day 3, Entry #5 with Jake Peters discussing HB 56 and the concerns with immigration in the state and the U.S.
Sorry for taking so long to reply.
I would like to go ahead and express my personal opinion on the topic. As a working/tax paying citizen, I am very disturbed by how our state and country have acted on this matter. Furthermore, I don’t understand how a developed and intelligent society such as the U.S can’t learn from the past. You would think we would have learned from segregation in the 60s and early in our country’s history with colonization.
My parents experienced the 60′s as children and students that witnessed segregation in Alabama. They also witnessed a generation that fought back and eventually caused an impact that changed our country. So, seeing this bill being passed and accepted by some people sickens me.
I totally agree with you Mary on the whole “American Dream.” I guess living in the land of the free and opportunity isn’t what its cracked up to be. You would think that a government in the “land of the free” would have bills passed to start programs in order to help people rather than kick them out. At this point in my life, I have little faith in the “American Dream.” However, I do have faith in the people who are willing to fight.
* Check out more information about HB 56 as well as stories from those personally affected by HB 56 by checking out Alabama Immigration: Making Sense of HB 56 and They Are Us, community websites created by Kristy Shaulis and Ana Rodriguez.
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Day 3, Entry #4 with Rebecca Royen discussing HB 56 and the concerns with immigration in the state and the U.S.
Sorry I did not have a chance to e-mail yesterday…
I agree with Mary. It seems to be typical of our government–both state and federal–to enact a bill, law etc. without having thought of all the angles: enforcement, impact on general public, etc. Often, these things seem self-serving or solely politically motivated. I understand that there was extreme fall-out when HB56 went into effect, not only in the places Mary mentioned, but also at places like the registry. There were parts of the bill that the general public was not made aware of, including specifics about car registration, etc.
I personally knew someone who was affected because he did not know that he needed different documentation than before when he went to renew his registration. Inferior dissemination of information to the public is what often creates a lot of resentment and opposition to new governmental policies and procedures. Many people think “oh, this immigration bill has no direct effect on me,” when, in reality, there are “hidden” parts of it that affect every Alabama resident.
Not to mention exactly what Mary said about “targeting.” Having something like this in place will undoubtedly make certain law enforcement officials–and even civilians–zealots about “uncovering” and punishing immigrants. Though the newest revision of the bill states that the suspicion of non-citizenry cannot be a primary offense (i.e. a cop cannot pull someone over because they think they might be an immigrant; there has to be another offense committed to justify the traffic stop), there are certain to be those in power who still consider it such. Just as with any other racial/gender/ethnic profiling or targeting, the enforcement of even the revised bill is sure to create a lot of fervent opposition and discord. I think everyone will agree that the last thing we need is more tension within our community based on race, gender or ethnicity. Maybe it is time for our government to look WITHIN–as opposed to around them–to uncover the real source of corruption, ulterior motives and malintent.
*For my information about HB 56 as well as stories from those personally affected by HB 56, check out Alabama Immigration: Making Sense of HB 56 and They Are Us, community websites created by Kristy Shaulis and Ana Rodriguez.
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Day 3, Entry #3 with Mary Weatherly discussing HB 56 and the concerns with immigration in the state and the U.S.
I would like to add something. Not only did this bill create mass chaos in schools, offices, doctors’ offices, etc., but it also created a mass prejudice. Kids and families are scared to go to school, doctors are loosing money from so many canceled or no show appointments. I personally know of a kid in Trussville, Ala., who has been bullied at school just because the color of his skin is tan and he has a Latino appearance….AND he isn’t even Latino! I also know of other people with a Latino last name who will most likely be targeted.
I guess Alabama will never change when it comes to prejudice. Plain and simple. If you haven’t guessed by what I’ve been talking about, I think this bill is stupid! It’s ridiculous and unnecessary. A vast majority of these immigrants even pay taxes!!! If the state and government were getting money from them, why throw them OUT!!!?!?!?
*For my information about HB 56 as well as stories from those personally affected by HB 56, check out Alabama Immigration: Making Sense of HB 56 and They Are Us, community websites created by Kristy Shaulis and Ana Rodriguez.
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Day 1, Entry #2 with Mary Weatherly discussing HB 56 and the concerns with immigration in the state and the U.S.
I highly agree. This country and its history is nothing but a huge mess of immigration and then the economy learning to adapt. With so many mixed and wonderful cultures, it’s hard to really pin-point as to “whats American.” With the immigration law, that “American Dream” is pretty much being crinkled up and thrown down on the ground with politicians jumping up and down on it.
Personally it saddens me. The other sad part about it is it’s not just our country, it’s the rest of the world. “Oh you can come and visit all you like but…no you can live here or work here.”
Everyone wants to keep everyone else out.
*For my information about HB 56 as well as stories from those personally affected by HB 56, check out Alabama Immigration: Making Sense of HB 56 and They Are Us, community websites created by Kristy Shaulis and Ana Rodriguez.
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Day 1, Entry #1 with Rebecca Royen discussing HB 56 and the concerns with immigration in the state and the U.S.
I guess I will go ahead and get the conversation started…
I will be the first to admit that I am not the most knowledgeable on the ins and outs of these bills. I have a general idea of what the immigration law entails and have read about the proposed changes to it. I suppose the perception is that people who are in this country illegally appear to be a drain on our resources and are therefore perceived as being “advantage-takers” or unwelcome members of our collective society. However, in my personal experience, that is a very skewed perception of the issue.
As a whole, the immigrant population of this country, and specifically, this state, seems to be a driven, hard-working, self-sacrificing people. By and large, it seems that they have come to this country because it affords them greater opportunities to work and make a living than they would have possibly had in their native countries. The idea of being able to provide a better life for themselves and their immediate family, as well as often taking care of extended friends and family that may still be in another country, seems very noble to me–much more noble than many members of our society who seem to do what they can to take advantage of this country’s resources simply because they can.
In my experience, there are many Americans who are not interested in contributing to society through entering the workforce or otherwise taking an active role in the betterment to our economy and its growth. They expect “the government,” which, in reality, means the contributing members of society, to take care of them because they deserve it solely by virtue of being born here. It seems to me that if we are supposedly cracking down on illegal immigrants for taking advantage of this country’s resources, then we really have to take a close look at the Americans who are unfairly taking advantage of these resources as well. I do not think we can categorically eliminate people who happen to have not been born in this country as productive members of society.
Hope this gets the conversation going. I’m very interested to see what everyone else has to say about the issue.
* Check out more information about HB 56 as well as stories from those personally affected by HB 56 by checking out Alabama Immigration: Making Sense of HB 56 and They Are Us, community websites created by Kristy Shaulis and Ana Rodriguez.
