On My Soapbox Again

My dad has been watching this show that I find revolting, and it's causing me to jump up on my soapbox to vent a bit.  The show is something about officers on the Mexican border that try to arrest people who are trying to cross the border.  I'm sure I will no doubt offend someone with this blog, so you may want to stop reading it now. 

I know very little about politics because I hate it, so these are just my personal feelings and viewpoints.  How and when did crossing the border become a crime?  I know, I know, they have been policing the Mexican border, in particular, for a long time, but what I mean is, why is this a crime?  It's a simple question, with what I assume is a complicated answer, but I want to know.  When my grandparents came over to the United States from Russia and Poland, it wasn't a crime; in fact, it was very common at that time because so many people immigrated here from all parts of the world.  So why should it be a crime for Mexican men, women and children to want a better life for their families, by trying to come here?  It shouldn't be. 

I understand that there are "bad" people who smuggle drugs and arms and lord knows what into our country, but I'm not talking about them.  Those guys have so much money that it's probably quite easy for them to come into this country.  I'm talking about the scores of poor people who only want to provide for their families by taking jobs here that no one else wants.  How many Americans do you see washing dishes in a restaurant or providing maid service at hotels, for minimum wage or even lower?  Very, very few.  Most of those who I've seen are Mexican and probably here "illegally" because the goverment has made it nearly impossible to get work Visas.

Now I know very little about this issue.  What makes me so angry is that good people are being deprived the opportunity to come into the US to work because they can't find this economy in their own country.  This is the same scenario it was for immigrants at the turn of the previous century.  No different.  They wanted to provide more for their families, so they immigrated here.  So why is it now "illegal" for Mexicans to try and do the same?  On this show, they treat these people as criminals because some idiot came up with the idea to make it illegal to cross into the U.S. from Mexico.  Why?

The answers I've heard are:

"Because they take away jobs from Americans."  They work jobs most Americans won't work.
"Because they smuggle drugs into this country."  Ridiculous.  ALL of these people are drug smugglers??
"We have too many people here now."  Ridiculous.  Give me a break.  I told you, I would offend some of you...
"They get on welfare and drain our welfare system."  That could be true, but not any truer than the millions of people who have descended from African, and European relatives who also drain our welfare system.

Any way you slice it, this whole issue makes me really angry.  Angry - not mad - my mom says "only dogs get mad."  I'm not saying just open up the borders and let everyone in the world in; but what I am saying is to stop making it criminal, and give these people a chance at a better life for themselves and their children; they're obviously not getting this in Mexico. 

And now, as I descend from my soapbox, I hope you still love me as I still love you.  We can always agree to disagree, as someone wise once told me.  Who that was, I can't remember, but I like the phrase, so I use it often...