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The stigma of being called illegal is so offensive to so many people for so many reasons. Especially when we know that these undocumented workers have been invited to the United States informally by employers. Employers, who though they hire in violation of the law, we refuse to label as illegal.
The reality is that 14 -18 million reside in this country without permanent paperwork. Those numbers have grown for a whole host of reasons, from the lack of enforcement of current laws, to failure to adequately handle the backlogs, to the reality that some industries are in need of a foreign labor force.
They are a part of our economy, doing work in a variety of industries including the hotel, agriculture and restaurant industries. Some crossed the border. Some overstayed their visas. Some had their status lost somewhere between the post office and the courthouse. There are more than enough holes in the system for decent people to fall through and be regulated only to citizenship in a second-class world in the shadows.
Yet, let's be clear. They may not have the proper documentation. Some may even need to go back. But they themselves are not illegal. No human being is illegal. And the kind of rhetoric that would debase them and treat them as if they had nothing in common with the rest of us is a moral wrong that all people of conscience should stand up against, regardless of what side of the political world you choose to live in.
It's the kind of rhetoric that once made it easy to think of African Americans as sub-human. The kind of rhetoric that allows cultural insensitivity to disintegrate quickly into cultural disrespect. Rhetoric that leads to the kind of ignorance that allows the symbol of the noose to reemergence as a form of intimidation and hate.
This country must come together and remember that we cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of the past if we are to meet the challenges that lie ahead of us in this increasingly global world. We cannot afford to turn this country back to the days when parents taught their children to hide their accents and when people changes their last names for fear that someone make them pay -- physically, financially, socially -- for their immigrant heritage.
If technology has moved us into the 21st century, surely we can find a way to end our nation's historical cycle of immigrant bashing.
To move successfully forward, we must create the kind of moral and political tone that encourages people to do the right thing. An environment where pragmatic policies that balance security and human dignity can be developed and safeguarded against misinformation and misinterpretation.
So that hard working people that are a part of our economic fabric are not considered terrorists, are not considered un-American and that those who have the courage to defend them are not considered less patriotic. So that we can deal with this issue as Americans have always had -- with the courage and conviction that the Statue of Liberty has set.
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