I'm sorry, but this kind of data doesn't pass my BS meter. How can anyone possibly calculate the convictions per 100,000 for "undocumented immigrants," when we have no way of knowing how many are in the country. They're undocumented! I have seen estimates that the number runs from 8 million to over 30 million. And whatever their actual crime rate is, that isn't my concern -- it's background noise.
What is my concern is flooding the workplace with more low-wage workers who will need government assistance at some point in their lives.
What is my concern is the replacement of American culture by those who can't even speak English. My wife had a job at a mid-sized company in one of Ogden's industrial parks. The company's workforce was over 70% Hispanic, with far too many who didn't understand English. My wife was ridiculed for not speaking fluent Spanish. Imagine that, an American, in America, being ridiculed by co-workers for only speaking English.
Undocumented people can't get government assistance.
Undocumented people who work under a false social security number PAY TAXES but cannot file a tax return, so they cannot get a refund and will never collect social security based on those earnings.
I'm gonna tell you a different story. I'm going to tell you a story of a U.S. sailor who was able to go all over the world and speak English and was welcomed and accommodated. In Kuala Lumpur, in Dubai, in Bahrain, Singapore, Hong Kong. In Dubai I went to a large store and I bought a full ounce of saffron, along with some deodorant, shampoo, etc.. When I went to pay I was asked if I wanted to pay in Dirham (the national currency) or another currency. I had Dirham, but I also had U.S. dollars and was expecting to have to exchange them for Dirham at some point, but the cashier, speaking to me in English, was happy to accomodate me and hit the "USD" button on the register and was able to accept my U.S. Currency for payment.
I was stationed in San Diego, right there on the border with Mexico. Do you think there was a store that could hit a button and accept pesos? If there was I never saw it. And while the Hispanic population was large and Spanish was common, I bet I had an easier time galavanting all over the world expecting to be accommodated in English than a spanish-speaking person had in San Diego.
I've worked in places with a lot of Spanish speakers in Utah. I was nice to them and asked them to teach me a few words. They were nice to me and taught me a few words. And we worked side-by-side and got along great.
In my division (CS7) aboard the USS nimitz I worked with one woman who entered the U.S. with her parents illegally when she was elementary school age. I worked with an adult who was from Taiwan who was in the U.S. Navy as a path to citizenship. When I was assigned temporary duty to shipboard security for six months I worked with a black man who one day at lunch "admitted" to me that he was muslim and he asked me not to tell people. I worked with people from the Philippines (many, actually, there are a **** ton of Filipinos in the U.S. Navy. I'm not sure we'd have a Navy without them), several hispanics, many black people, even some weird *** Floridians (another group that is over-represented in the Navy).
I love and care about the people I worked with directly in the Navy. They served this nation. They were willing to die for you. For you.
I came out of the Navy learning one thing above all other things. It is the one thing that makes me happy to have served. I learned that this planet is filled with human beings and we all basically want the same things. We are all one people and the borders between us are artificial. That's the biggest thing I took away from my 6 years in the Navy, and I'm thankful I had the chance in my life to see that. I saw that not only with the people I served with, but I saw it when I talked to cabbies, when I talked to bartenders, cashiers, street vendors, hotel clerks, tour guides, restaurant workers.
One more story. One of the times my ship was docked at Jebel Ali (outside Dubai) and I was assigned to shipboard security, I had to stand watch in what was called "the sandbox" (full disclosure, there are a few dockside areas cordoned off for sailors with that name, but I think this is the primary one). As I was walking my post I ran into one of the local guys near a utility gate (for the trucks that hauled away our feces while we were docked). He was from India. He was a veteran of the Indian military. And little side note, Indians are EVERYWHERE in the Middle East and Asia, they are most of the cab drivers from Hong Kong to Singapore to Dubai. Anyway, this guy told us that he loved Dubai. He loved his job there as a security guard. Said when he was in the Indian Military they went through a round of forced retirements and then later refused to pay retirement benefits, so he left. Found himself in Dubai. Said his life and his pay was good and he liked the city. He talked about the opportunities there. It wasn't the only time I'd heard it. One of my cabbies, who was not a "citizen" of the UAE but who was born there and grew up there talked about his admiration for the Emirate that represented Dubai and how he had a vision and plan to make the place profitable once the oil ran out. He was so proud. It was in those encounters that my impression that the U.S. was this unique place that everyone wanted to be was shattered. It made me realize that we actually needed to be our best if we wanted to demand that sort of pride and admiration. If we wanted to be the destination that people would not only come to for economic opportunity, but that they would also fall in love with and feel pride in being part of.
So tell your wife to buy babbel for Spanish and to learn a second language, just like the cabbies and cashiers and street food vendors all around the world did so that they could accommodate me and everyone else from the U.S., all our service members who are welcomed and treated well all over the world.
