I too know a girl who has grown up here and is still illegal. After coming here as a child she was even raised by an American family, but they were never able to adopt her because of her status. A few years ago she had a baby, who is adorable, but that just means more trouble with finding a job and insurance and doctors. I hope our government comes up with some really feasible solutions in a timely manner.

I have a whole classroom full of M’s. I guess I am totally naive, but they are pretty safe as children and it never occurred to me that their illegal status problems would grow up with them. I think the first step towards making progress with this issue is to raise awareness of what it *really* is like. I know I need more education on the laws and the reality. Too many people see only the negative impacts (believe me I live them- daily in the classroom) still, we need to understand the human sides of this problem in order to treat it.

I pray for reasonable and fair solutions to this crisis.

My friend, Kelly, moved to Mexico with her husband and 12 year old daughter because she gets along much better with her husband’s side of the family. She’s fluent in Spanish and teaches English there in a private school.

What had happened is that her husband worked in the U.S. and was legal to do so, but on his way back to the US from visiting his wife and child, he was taken in by patrol at the border. He’s now home in Mexico, BUT they said after about 6 months he can go back to working in the U.S. I’ve heard this a lot from others, not just Mexicans, but another friend who’s legally married to an American woman but is stuck in UK for the same reason and will be able to go to his wife in around 6-12 months. Seems the US is deporting all they can, green card or not. Not sure of the whole situation, but it’s scary.

I agree that something desperately needs to be done. My friend in Mexico is working there to support her husband and child. She said that in Mexico if a man is over 35 it’s very difficult for them to get a job. Most places are looking for younger men.

Not to mention that if you make $20 a week you can count yourself lucky. She said that things are expensive in Mexico, considering the pay there. The children in the Villa my friend lives is poor and the children don’t have the simplest of things like crayons to color with at home. I mailed some to Kelly for her daughter and her daughters two friends. They were coloring for hours I was told. These children are so unselfish too even though they have very little.

The youngest of the two, Yahir, he’s only 11 but is working in a store to help out his family. He bags in a grocery store and is paid in tips, but has made enough to buy himself one of the prepaid cell phones and give money to his mom for food. A landline in Mexico is so expensive, so most of the people there that that any sort of phone in her villa have Cell. Kelly said that it’s about $200 a month for a landline, which is crazy. At least I think I understood her correctly.

I set her a webpage if you’d like to visit. She’s been living in Mexico for close to 3 years now. She said when she moved there she was considered the richest family in the villa. Kelly was concerned because people were going through their trash there. Kinda scary at first.

http://www.freewebs.com/mexicokelly/

Okay…I have just written and rewritten my comment a few times. This whole situation is so upsetting to me. I feel bad for the immigrants who truley deserve and give so much more than they receive. Learning about the history of the accquision of the Mexican Territory (now known as Arizona, California, Texas, and I believe NewMexico) makes me embarressed when I hear how the natives were treated.

There are so many immigrants who make such a positive impact upon our society and get treated like crud. And yet there are “natural citizans” who are a drain to our society.

When living in So. California I volunteered at an annual event that gave free dental work to all local immigrants. A great majority of these immigrants worked so hard in the fields. This is why we have such cheep produce prices. Anway, these people were the nicest and most appreciative people I have ever met. I wanted to adopt them all.

I hold onto the hope that the bible provides that one day the meek shall inherit the earth. Notice it didnt say a nationality?

how incredibly frustrating and, as you said, simply unfair. i recently watched a great, great movie called The Visitor that speaks to this very issue, about the state of US immigration post-911 and how things have changed, i think for the worst. i wish that more people would see this movie and read your story, and then write their elected officials to see what changes can be enacted. unless US citizens want to start working at the “menial” jobs that immigrants currently hold, as you pointed out, we are dependent on them for our food, services, and cleanliness of place wherever we go. the double standard of “i don’t want to do that job” combined with “send them back to where they came from” is close to immoral.

Sigh…