Illegal-immigration debate is not about prejudice

News reports about Arizona’s new immigration law, “The List” of illegal immigrants supplied to immigration authorities by state workers, and a proposed Utah law brought to mind a childhood experience.

I grew up in a small town in Minnesota that was settled by Scandinavian immigrants. There were no black, Japanese or Mexican residents. But every autumn we had migrant workers come to town to harvest crops. My only experience with racial prejudice came one Sunday in 1959 when my mother and I were walking home from church.

“Dirty Mexicans,” my mother muttered as we passed our town’s laundromat filled with migrant women. “Mother,” I asked, “how can they be ‘dirty Mexicans’ when they are washing their clothes?”

I did not develop racial prejudices as a child since there were no people of color in our community. It made perfect sense to me that if you were a farm worker laboring in the fields you were bound to get your clothes dirty. There was such hatred in my mother’s remark that I surmised there must be something wrong with migrant workers. As years have passed, I have never had a negative experience with any African-American, Asian or Latino.

With a passport I have legally traveled to more than 25 countries. When I visited Turkey and Morocco I needed tourist visas upon entry. When I traveled to Egypt, I secured a visa through the Egyptian consulate in the United States. When I crossed the border into Hungary — a mere 15 years after the Soviet Union left Hungary and a Hungarian democracy was established — border guards checked our passports.

Every time my passport and visa stamps were scrutinized at airports, waterways, and roadside stops, I felt secure and confident that I had proper documentation to enter foreign countries on their terms.

My dream is to live in Italy. Americans visiting Italy longer than three months are considered residents. To gain resident status, an American must have an entrance visa prior to departure. Once the visa is granted an American arriving in Italy must obtain a permit of stay and within 20 days of receiving the permit go to the local Vital Statistics Bureau to apply for residency. These procedures are simple to complete and easier still to abide by.

As with most Americans, I have heard the excuses used for tolerating illegal immigration and the reasons why the government should not deport illegal immigrants. One reason is that illegal immigrants come to this country because they are poor. America has its share of poor people. Illegal immigrant supporters say deportation breaks up families and is harsh punishment for illegally entering the country seeking a better life. America also has broken families among its legal residents with untimely deaths, divorces and criminal incarcerations.

Cultural prejudices are wrong. I learned that at age 8. Illegally entering any country is wrong. I learned that when I began traveling internationally. When the first thing an immigrant does upon entering this country illegally is to break the law, it becomes difficult to trust the immigrant will abide by other laws.

Illegal immigrants may live exemplary lives once they arrive in the United States but it does not negate the fact that they are breaking American laws simply by being here.

How can any person entering this country illegally feel good about living here? Do the illegally earned wages make the illegal immigrant happy? Does the threat of being discovered make it easy to sleep at night? If I get to live in Italy some day and I am made to feel unwelcome, will I stay? I hope that time will tell.

Susan D. Ree is a novelist who lives and works in Salt Lake City.

Source - http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/50173945-82/illegal-immigrants-immigration-illegally.html.csp