Border State Politics

Several years ago, my mother, a resident of Arizona, wrote about the problems of immigrants roaming across the Arizona boarder from Mexico. She was deeply worried that this traffic of illegal aliens was the primary source of burglaries, robberies, physical attacks on unsuspecting pedestrians, and car thefts. Home invasions, too; oh yes, she worried they would come in the middle of the night and do whatever to her!

I asked mom why she thought Arizona was plagued with this problem. And were these problems documented with frequency and numeric data? She did not know about the data part, but she claimed that this was a unique Arizona problem because of its border with Mexico. I asked if California, New Mexico, and Texas might suffer the same problem? She thought that might be true, but the immigrants stayed mainly in her state and created a mess of unemployment, crime and what not.

I continued to question her about the semi-trucks found loaded with illegal immigrants being transported from Mexico and through Arizona to other, northern states like Nebraska, Iowa, the Dakotas, and Illinois. She did not know anything about that, oddly. It did not seem to matter to her that many if not most immigrants entering Arizona illegally were merely passing through. I informed her the immigrant issue was shared by most states, not just the border ones.

I also suggested that most immigrants did not cause unemployment among existing state populations but did work our own citizens simply did not want to do. And in fact, if they were working, why would they be robbing others? They had their own money.

She did not know of these matters. She only read what the newspapers reported about crime stories. Anecdotal items such as these did not provide the full picture. Only threats of upset and fear were the result of the stories. The fact that immigrants made it to population centers throughout the United States was interesting to her. And she did admit that her gardener was Mexican and was a swell guy. Had a family and all; the kids were doing well and going on to college and everything. I thought mom should have concluded that her gardener’s story was proof that her fears were unfounded, but no, that was not the case. He was the exception.

Media stories properly formed would state the immediate issue or subject of the item, then go on to explain how this fits into the rest of the reality of immigration and social issues particularly related to immigrants. Following the stories of the immigrants would be enlightening. Moving through the state to a future life in other parts of the nation. Work life and family life would be of interest, too. Putting a human face on these stories would help readers understand the full dimension of the involved issues. Were these issues problems? Or were they crises? Or opportunities? Or what?

Border stories do not belong only to the border states. They belong to all our states. Kindly turn your attention to coastal states and transportation methods of immigrants. Not all crawl from desert origins. Not all wash upon our shores in dinghies. Most fly in from distant lands. Legal or illegal, immigrants are everywhere.

Just like our own origin, we all come from immigrant stock. Whether in the last few months or 400 years ago, immigration is the only way our families came to this land. Oh, there is an exception: Native American Indians. Even those can be claimed as immigrants if we consider their Asian/Alaskan route of entry when once the land masses were bridged during the Ice Age.

I get the fear side of this story. Publishers sell their product with fear. Too bad they don’t tell the rest of the story. That’s the real moral of the tale. And it is our story. Our origin. That’s what makes us all American.

April 29, 2021

 

Blog draft April 29 21

Border State Politics

Several years ago, my mother wrote about the problems of immigrants roaming across the Arizona boarder from Mexico. She was deeply worried that this traffic of illegal aliens was the primary source of burglaries, robberies, physical attacks on unsuspecting pedestrians, and car thefts. Home invasions, too; oh yes, she worried they would come in the middle of the night and do whatever to her!

I asked mom why she thought Arizona (her state of residency) was plagued with this problem. And were these problems documented with frequency and numeric data? She did not know about the data part, but she claimed that this was a unique Arizona problem because of its border with Mexico. I asked if California, New Mexico, and Texas might suffer the same problem? She thought that might be true, but the immigrants stayed mainly in her state and created a mess of unemployment, crime and what not.

I continued to question her about the semi-trucks found loaded with illegal immigrants being transported from Mexico and through Arizona to other, northern states like Nebraska, Iowa, the Dakotas, and Illinois? She did not know anything about that, oddly. It did not seem to matter to her that many if not most immigrants entering Arizona illegally were merely passing through. I informed her the immigrant issue was shared by most states, not just the border ones.

I also suggested that most immigrants did not cause unemployment among existing state populations but did work others simply did not want to do. And in fact, if they were working, why would they be robbing others? They had their own money.

She did not know of these matters. She only read what the newspapers reported about crime stories. Anecdotal items such as these did not provide the full picture. Only threats of upset and fear were the result of the stories. The fact that immigrants made it to population centers throughout the United States was interesting to her. And she did admit that her gardener was Mexican and was a swell guy. Had a family and all; the kids were doing well and going on to college and everything. I thought mom should have concluded that her gardener’s story was proof that her fears were unfounded, but no, that was not the case.

Media stories properly formed would state the immediate issue or subject of the item, then go on to explain how this fits into the rest of the reality of immigration and social issues particularly related to immigrants. Following the stories of the immigrants would be enlightening. Moving through the state to a future life in other parts of the nation. Work life and family life would be of interest, too. Putting a human face on these stories would help readers understand the full dimension of the involved issues. Were these issues problems? Or were they crises? Or opportunities? Or what?

Border stories do not belong only to the border states. They belong to all our states. Kindly turn you attention to coastal states and transportation methods of immigrants. Not all crawl from desert origins. Not all wash upon our shores in dinghies. Most fly in from distant lands. Legal or illegal, immigrants are everywhere.

Just like our own origin, we all come from immigrant stock. Whether in the last few months or 400 years ago, immigration is the only way our families came to this land. Oh, there is an exception: Native American Indians. Even those can be claimed as immigrants if we consider their Asian/Alaskan route of entry when once the land masses were bridged during the Ice Age.

I get the fear side of this story. Publishers sell their product with fear. Too bad they don’t tell the rest of the story. That’s the real moral of the tale. And it is our story. Our origin. That’s what makes us all American.

April 29, 2021