The luck of the draw
The news of the people found in Texas, suffering and dying in a semi-trailer, has forced me to write.
The vast majority of illegal immigrants are good people risking their lives in the hopes of finding the opportunity to make life better for themselves and their families. The fact that they risk their lives should make us all understand how much of a hopeless situation they are desperate to leave behind. When I commented on how horrioble the incident in Texas was, a co-worker who claims to be a Christian, said, “Oh well, they’re just illegals.”
I seem to be in the minority, because I believe we are all God’s children. We are all brothers and sisters, and the country in which we were born is just the luck of the draw. The people in that sweltering trailer could have been any of us.
Why can’t we partner with Mexico and turn our neighbor into the China of the Western Hemisphere? Instead of taxing Americans to build a wall, we could use those funds to start building factories and creating jobs in Mexico. The people there would not have to risk their lives to cross a border if they can find jobs paying at least what they earn in the United States. Goods that we import from Mexico would only have to travel across the Rio Grande instead of halfway around the world from China, greatly reducing transportation costs. And if we are partners, our supply of products would never be cut off.
I’m sure there are people who would oppose partnering with Mexico, but I believe they would likely be large corporate growers and other large businesses that have for so long been able to depend on illegal workers who are afraid to complain about bad conditions and meager wages?
Aren’t we all in this together?
Drew Rosko
Eighty Four