Justin showed me this article about a thirteen-year-old Guatemalan boy who vanished while crossing the Mexican border illegally to join his mom in Arizona. I have not heard of this kid before. He’s been missing for two months and it really doesn’t look good. It seems unclear whether he vanished on American or Mexican soil — thereby giving both country’s authorities an excuse not to look for him.
What really gets my goat, though, is the barrage of ugly, vicious, racist comments attached to the article:
She is illegal and so is her son. I care nothing if they are found dead in the desert…The more of them found dead, the better off the world is.
Another one down…how many to go?
Good riddance to this gang banger.
And there was another comment, which I can’t find now and must have gotten deleted (and rightly so), saying something like “Her son is dead and he’s a good boy, because the only good wetback is a dead wetback.”
No matter how you stand on the immigration issue, you’d think people would feel some compassion for this child, and his mother. If this boy disappeared on American soil, then the American authorities have an obligation to look for him, the same way they’d have an obligation to look for someone from, say, China, or England, who disappeared within the United States borders.
The racism inherent in the illegal immigration issue bothers me a lot. If you are in this country illegally, you are MUCH less likely to be deported if you’re white. When people come here seeking asylum, either they’re let go on bond until their court date, or they’re put in immigration detention, and it’s a proven fact that people of color are MUCH more likely to be put in detention than white people. There was this one guy I know about who disappeared in Texas, and who was originally who was from Russia. I saw a board post from the police officer whose department was investigating the case, saying they had found the Russian man alive and well in another state. The cop added, and I quote, “He’s here illegally, but because he’s not Hispanic and he’s not Middle Eastern, we’re not going to do anything about it.”
I was horrified. I mean, I don’t especially care whether they deported the person or not. But I was shocked and deeply saddened that a public official would openly state that they were not going to enforce the immigration law in his case for the sole reason that he was white. The guy was every bit as illegal as someone who’d crossed over from Mexico. It’s like a judge saying at sentencing, on the record and in front of everyone, “Well, if you were a black guy you would be getting five years for this offense, but since you’re white, I’ll let you off with probation.” Disgusting.
What is it about illegal immigration that seems to rile up so many people, even more than crimes like murder and selling drugs? I mean, for example, you don’t see a lot of people saying “Who cares about Haleigh Cummings, her parents were drug-dealing criminals and they deserved to lose their kid, and she would have turned out the same way as them” or something like that. I am horrified by these people’s utter lack of empathy. I swear it makes me want to cry.
UPDATE: I found this article with photos of the missing boy. They think they might have found his body, but they’re not sure.
The Charley Project Blog 
It Is obvious you have no sense of reality when It comes to the criminals that come from the south to steal jobs, and food off the table of real Americans, you will probaly have a come back like, they only do jobs that Americans won’t do. If you have that come back, You have no sense of reality.
did you even read her entire post?
Stupid stupid stupid. Most of your “real Americans” are here b/c their ancestors came over illegaly a hundred or two hundred or more years ago. They came over and lots of them were criminals in their own land and when they got here they just took whatever they wanted and it didn’t matter who was here first, they just took it b/c they felt it was ok to take stuff from people they considered lower than they were. But that’s in the past and everybody’s forgot all about it and they say they’re the real Americans. Get a freaking clue, people.
Up until a little over a hundred years ago, there were no immigration rules to speak of. Anyone could come if they were reasonably healthy and had a bit of money to start out on. (I read once about how you had to have at least $5 in cash for them to let you in at Ellis Island. So a large group of people would share the same $5 bill, each one showing it to the immigration officials, then passing it on to the next person in line for them to use.)
It wasn’t until the 1890s that quotas were introduced, and the restrictions became greater right before World War II and have been like that pretty much ever since. (One reason why Jews didn’t flee Nazi Europe in greater numbers than they did: no other country would accept them.) If this country had always had the kind of immigration restrictions we have now, we would be practically empty.
Er, what the hell happened here? I get where everyone is coming from, but jeez, immigrant or not, the cops should have some sort of job to do. Personal opinions should be kept OUT of it. I have all the love in the world for LEGAL immigrants (as my gps were) but not real hot on the illegal ones. However, if there is a MP, that’s that. Thanks, Meaghan, for the update on Laura Thompson. I’ve been playing that countries game my kids’ whole nap. I still suck. Africa hates me, and I don’t like that you have no choices for spelling. I spent five minutes trying to spell Nicaragua!
Yeah, that was kind of the point I was trying to make in the blog entry. It’s not about illegal immigration, it’s about the fact that people ought to show some common human decency for this mother and her child who probably died a horrible death. An MP is an MP no matter where they’re from, who they are or what they’ve done.
I don’t know if you saw, Kat, but the game does accept some abbreviations. It’ll take “UAE” for United Arab Emirates, “DRC” for Democratic Republic of Congo, etc. (But curiously not “UK” for United Kingdom.) I’m really good at geography and it still took me weeks and weeks to name all the countries. I always forgot one or two — and never the same one or two, either. Those teeny islands in the Caribbean and the South Pacific were always what got me.
I did NOT. I cannot spell. I know what I mean but I am mildly flip minded (tried to spell the word, couldn’t). Damn. I thought you only missed one! I am like at 80. But having to go back and respell is killing me. Thanks for the tip. I noticed it was taking congo twice. This entire post makes no sense. I know what i”m saying though! Feel better soon Meaghan!
The sporcle version of the countries quiz does let you use uk, I think. I got hung up on the Congos b/c I couldn’t remember what they go by now, they changed names a few times. The islands are what gave me trouble, and the parts of Yugoslavia. And I kept forgetting the Vatican. The pope is probably going to put a curse on me for that. But I did finally get all 195 countries down. It just boils down to memorizing.
I tried the capitals of the world too, and that took me longer to get all of them, but I did do it. I was always good at that kind of stuff in school, the geography and memorizing.
In regard to the undocumented immigrant issue. I do not think people who are sneaking in from Mexico are here to “steal the good jobs.” You think any American kid would be willing to be a migrant worker, get paid some piss-poor amount of money to pick fruit, get no benefits and have to live in a shack if they are lucky? Do you really think the people from Mexico are here for any other reason than picking fruit, mowing your lawn, washing your dishes, doing your contractor jobs or watching your children because no matter how crappy it is here for them to do those jobs, it is better than taking their chances in Mexico where the police are corrupt, the drug dealers are bribing everyone and their brother in power, there are hundreds of people who are in unmarked, mass graves.
Certain states are concerned with the undocumented immigrants due to the amount of money spent on medical and social programs that have no way of getting compensated for their services. It is a huge economic drain to the states that boarder Mexico.
The real threat is the people who are here legally. The people who come in on H1B Visas who are taking the technology jobs. That’s the immigrant you should be concerned with. THEY are taking the good jobs.
Any child who goes missing should get the same amount of press that the pretty, white children get. You steal a child? Sorry, one strike and you are OUT. Jail for life. Because chances are you are stealing that child for nefarious purposes. Yes, I know there are cases of parental abduction. Still a nefarious purpose. You cannot rehabilitate a pedophile. You cannot rehabilitate a psychopath. It is a shame that people don’t want to claim responsibility for these poor kids and find them.
A solution would be to have the National Guard watch the whole damn boarder and keep it safer. I would rather my tax dollars go to keeping people trying to sneak into the country safe, by providing them water and a meal before sending them back, than where they are currently being wasted. Making it easier for people from Mexico to come to the US to work. They are doing the jobs anyway, make it some kind of work visa for them. Get them minimum wage. Yes it will make your fruit prices higher, yes, you might have to pay more for your lawn to get mowed, or your children to get watch, but you can’t have it both ways.
I read a comment once that we have more military personnel on the boarder between north and south Korea than we have along the Mexico boarder.
I fully understand all of this and how people who say that they are Americans are against all of the so called illegal immigrants in our country. They are being racist because they are targeting the Hispanic’s only. Not the people from India who buy up our motels and mini marts and then do not have to pay taxes for 7 years and then before their 7 years are up they pass the business to a family member and they do not pay taxes for another 7 years, or about the Mid Eastreners, Russians, Africans, and all others included, that are here in the US illegally. It is all about the Hispanic’s. Well one thing I know for a fact is that if you are not Native American,(Cherokee, Apache, Sioux, etc.) or have Native American blood in your veins then you are an illegal immigrant too. It has always been the white man no matter where they are from or what they do. They think because they are white they can take whatever they want, like they took this land from the Indians and are still taking. I am a white woman and I am beginning to wish I were not. Yes I have a little Cherokee blood from my ancestors and wish I was a full blooded Cherokee. I am ashamed of the way the US is treating the people who are here trying to make a decent living for them and their families, and working out in 110 plus degree tempertures, doing the jobs that put fresh veggies on our tables, and the jobs that excuse me but we lazy so called Americans will not do because we think we are too good to get out and work in the fields. We would rather sit at home and recieve Welfare than to take a job like the Hispanic’s do that would feed us and our families. I know I have dated only Hispanic men for a few years now and I see how hard they work for the little they get and yes most of them do pay taxes. I have seen the pay checks, so I know they are trying and if some people in our goverment did not think that they are better than everyone else, the ones who are working payin into our Medicare and Social Security Systems would also be paying Federal Taxes. just think there are what maybe 10 to 12 million so called Illegal workers in the US? And if they were able to pay these taxes without fear, what would this do for our deficit? Would this help bring the US economy back? I think it would. But predujuiced, racist people do not think so cause they think cause their skin is white they are better. Well last time I looked at the map we are all Americans. We have Canada, the US, and Mexico which make up North America. Then we have Central America, and last but not least we have South America. So therefore to me we are all AMERICANS! God made us all and so therefore he is a rainbow of colors and speaks all laungages. So go ahead and throw them out and see how many farms go under cause there is no one to pick the fruits and veggies. My friend that I had been living with for 7 months had to go to a different place for work and I could not go with at that time, but was to follow this weekend. Now I have not heard from him in 1 week and he called me everyday. We are soul partners and I am lost without him, but because he is a migrant worker, no one wants to help me find out if he is ok. I even called his boss man and he was not willing to help me. There are things that do not add up and if I have to I am going to where he told me he was and become a detective and find out for myself. No thanks to the racist people who do not care about you if you aint WHITE!