Spanky's Place :: My Back Yard

Category Politics

In honor of "today's "day without immigrants" (one can only hope), I've decided to repost something my brother sent me a while back. If you want to call me a racist/bigot, so be it; but you'll have missed the point.

Enjoy...

My back yard

A few years ago I came home from work to find a man living in my back yard. Apparently he climbed over my fence and set up a little shack on the back part of my property.

I didn't mind so much at first, he did a lot of work around my yard that I didn't like to do...pull weeds, mow, etc. After a while I noticed there were a few more of them living back there, but it wasn't just that. They began to invite themselves into my house, using my kitchen and eating my food. They slept in my bed, enjoyed my prescription medicines that I paid for, they started driving my car without a license and sent their kids to my son's school. My insurance bills went up to cover their drugs, my taxes were used to pay for their food and their children's attendance at my child's school. In fact, they demanded they should only pay what we pay to attend college.

When I questioned them about their trespassing and theft they said that they were entitled because they snuck in my back yard long enough ago that they considered themselves to be entitled to my house and property. They said they work and pay taxes, even if their identification isn't legal and their social security numbers are manufactured. Besides, how could I begrudge them the same things I have?

I finally had enough and called the police. They told me that they were helpless to enforce the law. Even though they were breaking the law by stealing and trespassing, they said that if they took the time to clean the squatters out of my yard, they'd be tied up all day doing that for everyone. Nevermind the fact that some of them manufacture and deal drugs from my residence. Some of my neighbors have even gone so far as to label me a bigot, just for wanting the laws to be enforced.

Just because someone broke the law years ago, but has gone on to become a model citizen since then does not excuse the fact that they are a lawbreaker. Why does this logic only apply when it is convenient? If the people in my back yard are "just seeking the American Dream," and I'm a bigot for pointing out the legality of their immigration status, then what's all the uproar about a paroled rapist or child molester who has paid his debt to society and moves to your neighborhood?

The hypocracy of those who claim amnesty should be granted based on the good-citizenship of ILLEGAL aliens is astounding. Their good behavior is nullified by the fact that their entering this country was a crime. America, the country of immigrants embraces all who come here abiding the law. In fact, the cry from legal immigrants should drone out the incessant babble of those who squawk amnesty for illegals.

Look in your backyard, check your refrigerator and medicine cabinet. Whether you know it or not, people are trespassing on your sovereign property and stealing from you. They have the audacity to demand rights and services to which only legal residents are entitled and expect you to pay for it. Your "one world" neighbors think you should let them continue their parasitic existance, going so far as to demand amnesty, which would only multiply the strangers in your backyard.

-Devin

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Comments

1 - Too true you bigot!

I must be as well...

Interestingly, not all are boycotting today. This is from my local paper - the owner of the most popular Mexican restaurant in town said he'll fire anyone who doesn't show up for work today. I think this sentiment is in most areas of "normal" America (as in not huge cities like LA). Most just want to come here and work and provide for their families without any agenda. It just happens that a huge number are here illegally and that's a major problem!

https://www.heraldonline.com/business/story/5704321p-5110046c.html

Posted by Chris Whisonant At 10:22:06 AM On 05/01/2006 | - Website - |

2 - Excellent post Spanky! Check out my 2 cents on 2 similar topics. Of course, I'm way less sensitive and much more sarcastic than you are on this topic.

https://edgeoffreedom.blogspot.com/

Posted by Kollapse At 01:12:25 PM On 05/01/2006 | - Website - |

3 - Funny post, as I thought when I read it the first time. The premise ignores the legal precedent of "squatter's rights" though, where if you (the property owner) allow someone to live on your property for X years (7 in most states) and they improve the property (build a shack?), they own it. So, in some respects, after a certain amount of time law-breakers are not law-breakers anymore. That's not a radical or new legal theory, either - it's older than this country. By the way, property ownership is not the only place this applies - even murder and sexual abuse have a statute of limitations. So the issue isn't as simple as some right-wing extremists would like it to be.

For those who don't know me, unlike Devin, don't assume I'm in favor of unrestricted immigration and the use of my tax dollars to support people who are here illegally. But I do my research. For example, illegal aliens pay property taxes, to exactly the same extent other property owners and renters do, so on the local level they're paying for the services they use. Which doesn't begin to make it right or excused, but I'm tired of people using the "I'm paying for their children's education" line inaccurately.

Complain, if you will, about the real issues - the lack of any security checks on illegals, the inability to adequately collect income taxes, the failure of businesses to check for citizenship before hiring people, the ludicrous idea that people shouldn't have to speak English in order to conduct a transaction like voting AND the equally moronic idea of punishing school children by preventing them from learning English in the most effective way. And don't forget to include the idiotic policies of the INS in your target list, because we really ought to stop inventing ways to abuse the people who are trying to obey the law.

Oh, and don't complain about civil disobedience either. It has a long and storied history in this country, and in many ways there is nothing more American than a protest. The famous quote (famously mis-attributed to everyone from Voltaire [who *almost* said it] to Oliver North) about disagreeing with what someone says, but defending to the death their right to say it - quintessentially American.

Posted by Rob McDonagh At 01:17:08 PM On 05/01/2006 | - Website - |

4 -

Good points and well stated Rob.

My biggest complaint (at the moment anyway) with the current illegal alien problem (I refuse to call them "undocumented workers" -that's nothing more than Newspeak to me) isn't really aimed at the illegal aliens themselves. Don't get me wrong; I'm of the attitude that they should be arrested, tried, and (if found guilty) appropriately sentenced. But they, in and of themselves, aren't the problem. They are merely a symptom of the of the problem we face.

The problem is our elected leaders are too busy pontificating and placating the masses, too busy protecting their voter base, and too obsessed with guarding their self-interests to do what needs to be done:CLOSE THE BORDERS to illegals.

I don't mind immigration -when legally done. I think immigration is necessary for the healthy growth of our country. But we need to stop the essentially unrestricted flow of criminals (yes, some poor migrant simply looking for work becomes a criminal the moment he enters our country illegally) into this nation. We need to close the borders now.

Unfortunately, I think most of our current leaders, as well as their potential replacements, lack the balls to do this.

Posted by Devin At 03:51:10 PM On 05/01/2006 | - Website - |

5 - Our current and potential leaders are all definitely castrati, my friend. No doubt about it. I blame the damn primary system - nobody with a brain or a functioning spine can possibly make it through that special interest hell. On the right it's the neo-cons and fundamentalists, and on the left it's the unions and hippies - you can't win either party's nomination without getting into bed with the extreme end of the party. But then when you get to the real election, you can't win unless you hop out of bed and "move to the center" - in other words, lie (well, you're either lying at this point or you were during the primaries...). Which means we wind up with a bunch of spineless "yes-man" politicians who have been trained to never take a stand.

As far as immigration itself, as usual I pretty much agree with you. There are a lot of different side-issues flying around, but the one that *matters* is the security issue. So, yeah, close the fucking borders to illegal (and thus, unverifiable and inherently insecure) aliens.

I gotta say, though, that I'm not sure HOW we close the borders. They're huge, for one thing. And for another, if you head up towards Canada through the woods of Vermont or Oregon or Michigan, there are plenty of places where nobody but a native would even know the border exists. We don't have the manpower to watch every foot of land. I don't see how we can build a wall along the whole border either.

Maybe we can use technology and invent a solution - a semi-intelligent array of sensors? If I thought we could trust the government (ha!), I'd have to seriously consider the idea of an embedded digital ID of some sort, without which the sensors would consider you a suspect and monitor and record everything you did. Problem being, some President would decide he was above the law and order the NSA to use these IDs and sensors to spy on American citizens. Oh, wait, that already happened - just without the IDs. *snicker*

Posted by Rob McDonagh At 11:12:35 PM On 05/01/2006 | - Website - |

6 - Aside from the arguments about what illegal aliens do or do not deserve, I have to say that this whole argument sounds a lot like the arguments surrounding the "war on drugs", which have a whole lot to do with supply and very little to do with demand. I would contend that the reason we have so many illegal aliens is not because we need more workers, but because employees want illegal employees. Actually, they want the low salaries and minimal benefits they can offer illegal aliens.

That is a problem that arresting and deporting illegal aliens isn't going to solve. Where there is a demand, there is usually a supply, and there is a demand for low priced labor. If we dry up the supply here, it might well be easier to go abroad for that labor than to pay the higher wages and benefits of "legals".

Posted by Ben Langhinrichs At 12:10:47 AM On 05/02/2006 | - Website - |

7 - Nor is it a uniquely American problem. There has been an enormous brouhaha up here in the frozen North over the deportation of some Portugese illegals.

"The whole construction industry will fall apart at the seams!"

There have been more than a few hints of racism as well. But hang on -- these people came to Canada from Portugal claiming refugee status. (No, they didn't sneak across the border at night, but with the sanctuary rules in Canada, it's much easier to go to the immigration counter and say "refugee here" than it is to wade the Rio Grande.) Refugees? From freakin' Portugal?

Sure, they've been here for years, and yes, maybe they have made a contribution to the economy, perhaps even to the greater Canadian society, but come on -- they came in on a lie, knowing that there would be no way their claims would be approved, and "disappeared". Yes, they represent a disproportionately large percentage of workers in the construction industry -- but how many tradespeople were prevented from immigrating legally (or, for that matter, how many Canadian kids lost apprenticeship opportunities) because these people were artificially deflating the shortfall?

Don't get me wrong, either. The likes of Pete Seeger and Joan Baez lean a little too far to the right for my tastes. But I'm also a Canadian. We haven't enshrined "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" in our foundation documents -- ours says "peace, order and good government". We got rules, dammit, and all of the good we try to do for those who need help comes to naught if people who are less needy cut in line.

Posted by Stan Rogers At 09:26:50 PM On 05/02/2006 | - Website - |