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Guest Editorial

SARA HENRYPark City

I have been observing the immigration debate for years, especially since I moved to Park City from San Diego. One the one hand, I do not blame Mexican people for entering our country illegally. Faced with the underprivileged life they experience in Mexico and the relative ease to enter our country illegally, I might do the same thing myself in order to give my family a better life. I do not blame U.S. companies for hiring illegals as they need the cheap labor force and, from what I have seen, Mexican people as a whole are extremely hardworking, dedicated, trustworthy and friendly. There is no question that generally these people add to our economy and keep prices low.

On the other hand, I do not blame U.S. citizens for being upset by the invasion of illegal immigrants, which brings many problems to our country as well. It is not bad to want to defend our country’s borders, to expect immigrants to come to our country legally and to assimilate to our culture and learn our language. It should not be politically incorrect to expect our country’s laws to be enforced and to give preference to those immigrants who are waiting in long lines to come here legally. And let us also not ignore the fact that our porous borders are an open invitation for terrorists to enter our country.

No, I put the blame for this whole mess squarely on the shoulders of the one entity that could have resolved this issue years ago… our federal government. Our government has been aware of this escalating problem for years and they have done nothing to resolve the problem. Now, as usual, it has turned into a huge political "debate" with both parties pointing the finger at the other. Our government should have secured the border a long time ago, while making provisions for a generous guest-worker program where immigrants are screened and employers have a ready pool of workers to choose from. Our government should have put more pressure on Mexico to take care of its own citizens and stop being so corrupt. But no, our federal government in all of its wisdom has ignored the problem until it is now a virtual disaster and citizens and border states such as Arizona are having to take matters into their own hands.

This failure is now pitting good immigrant people against good U.S. citizens and giving extremists on both sides of the debate a forum to spout their hatred. Yes, we should all be mad, but not at one another. We should be mad at our own federal government and demand that they take action immediately to resolve this problem.

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