Los Estados Unidos

Lee Rayburn | 4/11/2006 10:07 am | ...

On the practice wall of the LaFollette High School tennis courts, someone has spray-painted the words, "Fuck Mexicans" and "Go Home".  It seems harsh when you read the graffiti, but those are exactly the thoughts of U.S. Representative James Sensenbrenner.  Maybe we've forgotten the "united" part of the United States.  Maybe we've forgotten that all Americans (except the few natives left) are the result of immigration.  Being a part of Madison's immigration rally yesterday restored my sense of patriotism and reminded me of what America is meant to be: united.  Anyone like Sensenbrenner or the LaFollette tagger, are trying to divide us in order to conquer. 

We are not going to expel 11 million undocumented workers in our country.  We can either allow them to continue to be a permanent underclass without protections, or we can offer them the same wage and labor protections that the rest of us take for granted.  Why would we want to punish the undocumented workers that are taken advantage of in order for businesses to save a buck?  Why wouldn't we want to punish the employers who choose to take advantage of undocumented immigrants while ignoring the legal American workforce?  The Pew Hispanic Center has found that one in four agricultural jobs, one in seven construction jobs and one in six cleaning jobs are being done by undocumented workers.  Making them legal citizens ends the battle for the bottom of the wage scale between undocumented workers and legal employees.  The demonization of amnesty for immigrants completely ignores the bottom line that it benefits everyone but the "illegal employer".

The American worker has seen their income stagnate, while their jobs are outsourced overseas or "insourced" by undocumented workers.  One reason the SEIU and AFL-CIO oppose Sensenbrenner's draconian immigration legislation is because they want to end the competition for the lowest wages between workers in America.  We, the workers, deserve to make a living, own a home, have the opportunity to retire, and realize the American dream.

There's no forgetting the unity I felt yesterday.  They may be Mexican, Columbian or Venezuelan, but they are here in the U.S. with me and that makes them American in my eyes.  That's why, when I heard GOP Attorney General candidate Paul Bucher accuse incumbent Peg Lautenschlager of legitimizing illegal human beings by speaking at yesterday's rally,  I was reminded that those who would try to divide us are only trying to conquer us.  Bucher's condemnation of our nation's immigrants is no different than the hate scrawled on a wall at LaFollette High School.  If Sensenbrenner, Bucher and their like get their way, maybe we should hire the LaFollette tagger to rewrite Emma Lazurus's poem at the foot of the Statue of Liberty.  We are, and always should be, Los Estados Unidos.

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