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Read this -- click on "Bush Pushes Massive Amnesty Proposal".

Bush Pushes Massive Amnesty Proposal
Bush Offers Amnesty/Social Security to Illegal Aliens

Dear Concerned Citizens

The election is over. The President has declared that the election shows the American people approve of his plans for America. And he has wasted no time in sending his entire Cabinet down to Mexico to negotiate the next amnesty for millions of illegal aliens living in our country.

Whether or not you voted for President Bush, I am sure that you oppose a huge amnesty for 8-10 million illegal aliens. I am also sure that you oppose such an amnesty whether it is called an amnesty or an AgJobs bill or a Temporary Workers bill. It's all the same. It's a huge massive AMNESTY and Americans don't want it.

As you may all know, issues regarding immigration hits me right where it hurts. The things is, I am an immigrant (or wannabe immigrant, alien, take your pick). Technically, yes. I am a person who is a non-immigrant alien (let's not get into the legality of these terms -- I just hate being referred to as an "alien" and do not wish to get into all that) because I do not have US citizenship and I also do not have a permanent residency, aka the green card (which is now pink). But also, I have lived in the US long enough to have American blood flowing through my veins. While I feel extremely sympathetic to the illegal aliens, I also understand where the citizens are coming from in their opposing sentiments.

Schwarzenegger has recently denied illegal aliens from applying for a California driver's license/ID. That really gets my blood boiling, because my brother, who has all his papers in order and is completely legal and approved and everything, has yet to get his driver's license because of this. It's been a year since he's passed his driver's test, and he's still driving with a temporary. Furthermore, the DMV has sent a letter saying that proof of legal residence must be supplied to the DMV (which he did last year, and all his papers were complete) AND if a year has passed since he applied originally, he needs to pay another fee to start the process all over again.

OK. So let me see. Oh goody. We did everything the way we were supposed to, and submitted proofs and immigration papers and passports and whatnot, and all of a sudden, we are asked to submit everything again, AND pay some more money.

You see, it is one thing not to grant illegal aliens legal residency -- that much, I understand. But by denying ID's and driver's licenses, and putting other laws in place (some states have a law where hospital/health professionals in a public hospital must report if an undocumented/illegal alien comes to receive treatment), you are crossing the line between protecting Americans and violating common human rights. Why go overseas and invest billions of dollars to bring freedom and democracy to the Iraqis, when you've got plenty of people already on your land suffering from lack of freedom and getting their rights violated?

I know many ignorant fools who prefer to just scream loudly, "GO BACK TO YOUR OWN COUNTRY!" or "GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM!" As though screaming that loudly would block all the problems from gaining visibility. You know, the truth of the matter is, to a lot of these people, including myself, we are home. We can't go back to where we came from, because we are already at where we're from. We're from California. California is all I've known as a home. And some people may say, "well, go back to wherever it is you are a citizen of." I have no home to go back to. Same goes for many. All their families are here, and they have nothing to return to, be it Mexico or Guatemala or Korea. Isn't it just a tad bit cruel to force us to return home when we don't have a home to go to or a job to go to? A lot of people cross the border to escape. Escape poverty. Escape being stuck in poverty. Escape from the restrictions of their society. Because things are better here. Because everybody should be granted the right to pursue happiness and the right to have a better life. Isn't that what America is all about?

Well, I can just go on and on about this, but it saddens me that Americans, most of whom are immigrants or descendants of immigrants, are against other immigrants. Don't you remember the hardships that you faced when you first came to this country? Haven't you heard of the great difficulties of your parents and grandparents when they tried to settle in to this country, so that you can have a home to love? (Sigh) I don't care Bush or Kerry, just do something right about this situation. It breaks my heart everytime I come across these things on the internet.

Also read: The Rights of Immigrants -ACLU Position Paper