Understanding Immigration- Letter to the Editor

To the Editor,

Even though a few more people are now becoming pro-immigrant, most Americans are still opposed to helping make illegal immigrants legal U.S. citizens. Most still favor massive deportations, an action that breaks up families and is not typical of the way our country normally acts or treats people. How the immigrants are treated reminds me so much of how African Americans were treated during slavery and segregation, and how the Jews were treated in Nazi Germany and the former Soviet Union.

I still believe that the "average Joe" and the "average Jane" do not like the immigrants because they look different than Joe and Jane, speak a different language than Joe and Jane, maybe have darker skin than Joe and Jane. I still do not believe that the average American is concerned about people from Mexico taking jobs from them and stealing their Social Security (that stealing Social Security theme has been used by so many in so many ways over the years that it has become ridiculous).

The jobs most of the immigrants hold involve working in the fields, doing restaurant work, cleaning hotels and motels, taking tickets at theme parks and resorts, and delivering pizza. These are jobs that most people do not want. These are also jobs that the immigrants can pay into the Social Security system with helping to keep it and other entitlement programs afloat.

We must get over the fear of who we do not know and what we do not know. We must overcome xenophobia. We need to realize that immigrants are real people, with real families, with real lives, hopes, and dreams. Let's welcome them to our country in the neighborly spirit that has always been a part of American, and Christian culture.

David Shipp,

Nevada, Mo.