Juan Crow

[texaslawchick]

I came home last night and my (lily white) boyfriend nervously said, "Sweetheart, you know that I don't find ANYTHING about this law remotely funny. It's horrible, terrible, awful, and you know I wholeheartedly think that

Comments

Other side?

[ext_105619]

I just saw this post... 5 minutes after posting this on Facebook about the issue:
"while i think the concerns of racial profiling are probably valid and that makes me uncomfortable... i think something definitely needs to be done about the immigration issue. we live in a safe haven city... which is fine and good until you have an illegal immigrant destroy your car and drive off. a damaged car and a big insurance bill tend to illuminate the other side of the argument."

I respect you so much, Miss Christina, and the reasons for which people are rallying behind Arizona are nauseating to say the least. But having been on the other side of this coin has made me ambivalent. Do you feel there is a need for reform? If so, what kind?

Re: Other side?

[texaslawchick]

This is what I think

Re: Other side?

[texaslawchick]

(I had to do two posts because I went beyond my word limit)

This is not to say that I don't think that there isn't a desperate need for comprehensive immigration reform. Pretty much the ONLY thing I supported of the Bush presidency without reservation was the reform package that was introduced in 2007. I think George Bush, also coming from a border state, uncharactaristically understood the complexities of this particular issue and crafted legislation that finely drew the lines appropriately. This bill acknowledged the positive contribution of the shadow workforce to our society without giving a free pass to those who came to this country without proper documentation. It beefed up border security considerably in a smarter way than that stupid, asinine wall down in South Texas does. I think that it was a good start, and I hope that the Obama administration picks up where it was left off

Re: Other side?

[ext_105619]

So, I agree with you on most points. The one point where my opinion varies is the car wreck issue. In my case, after being hit, I chased the car down, and once I caught up, parked in such a way to block in the driver who hit me. I was furious and got out of the car to give him a piece of my mind... which, of course, he didn't understand. I called the police and 30 minutes later, the first officer showed up. She didn't speak Spanish, so we waited another 20 minutes for a second officer who did. These police were not impolite and treated Mr. hit-and-run just like anyone else. As it turns out, he had no driver's license, no registration, no insurance, nada. And he was driving a car at least as nice as, or nicer than mine. The police issued him a ticket for the original wreck and for the lack of license and insurance... but couldn't ticket him for the hit-and-run since I caught up with him. (True irony

Re: Other side?

[texaslawchick]

Wow. That's gutsy. I would have been terrified to chase a car down after having been hit. But would the cops have done any differently than they did had the person been here legally or been a citizen? It's not their role to enforce immigration laws, and plenty of regular people skip out on fines and payments. I know one person who recently paid inquired into his own record and discovered 8 unpaid violations from as far away as 8 years ago totaling up to $1200. He was born in the US, and actually has a very unpleasant view on immigration. If he ever were to get stopped again by the cops, he'd be hauled in on a arrest warrant. I suspect your guy would be too.

Again, I think that most immigrants tend to be hypber law abiding for fear of deportation, but there are of course bad apples in every group of people.