Bashing Illegal Immigrants

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On Jun 26, 2007, at 5:45 PM, a friend forwarded this, which is making the rounds:

Subject: FW: Alien rights???

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Here is the transcript of an INTERVIEW with an illegal Mexican at a 
protest march in Texas.
 Trying to reason with an Illegal Mexican, a good example of a discussion with a master 
of circular logic who makes a new case when the previous argument gets too difficult to defend


On the streets of downtown Houston, May 1, 2007 -- Jim Moore reporting for a Houston TV station:



-Jim: Juan, I see that you and thousands of other protesters are 
marching in the streets to demonstrate for your cause. Exactly what 
is your cause and what do you expect to accomplish by this protest?


-Juan: We want our rights. We will show you how powerful we are. We
 will bring Houston to its knees!


-Jim: What rights?

-Juan: Our right to live here..legally. Our right to get all the benefits you get.


-Jim: When did you come to the United States?

-
Juan: Six years ago. I crossed over the border at night with seven other friends.
 -
Jim: Why did you come?

-
Juan: For work. I can earn as much in a month as I could in a year
 in Mexico. Besides, I get free health care, our Mexican children can 
go to school free, if I lose my job I will get Welfare, and someday 
I will have the Social Security. Nothing like that in Mexico!

-
Jim: Did you feel badly about breaking our immigration laws when you came?
-Juan: No! Why should I feel bad? I have a right to be here. I have a 
right to amnesty. I paid lots of money for my Social Security and Green Cards.

-Jim: How did you acquire those documents?

-
Juan: From a guy in Dallas. He charged me a lot of money too.

-
Jim: Did you know that those documents were forged?

-
Juan: It is of no matter. I have a right to be here and to work.

-
Jim: What is the "right" you speak of?

-
Juan: The right of all Aliens. It is found in your Constitution. Read it!

-Jim: I have read it, but I do not remember it saying anything about rights for Aliens.
-
Juan: It is in that part where it says that all men have Alien rights, like the right to pursue happiness. I wasn't happy in Mexico, so I came here.
-Jim: I think you are referring to the Declaration of Independence
 and that document speaks to unalienable rights .. Not Alien rights.


-Juan: Whatever.

-
Jim: Since you are demanding to become an American citizen, why then are you
 carrying a Mexican Flag?

-
Juan: Because I am Mexican.

-
Jim: But you said you want to be given amnesty ... to become a US citizen.


-Juan: No. This is not what we want. This is our country, a part of 

Mexico that you Gringos stole from us. We want it returned to its rightful owner.
-

Jim: Juan, you are standing in Texas. After wining the war with Mexico, 
Texas became a Republic, and later Texans voted to join the USA. 
It was not stolen from Mexico.

-
Juan: That is a Gringo lie. Texas was stolen. So was California, New Mexico 
and Arizona. It is just like all the other stuff you Gringos
 steal, like oil and babies. You are a country of thieves.
-

Jim: Babies? You think we steal babies?

-Juan: Sure. Like from Korea and Vietnam and China. I see them all
 over the place. You let all these foreigners in, but try to keep us
 Mexicans out. How is this fair?


-Jim: So, you really don't want to become an American citizen then.

-
Juan: I just want my rights! Everyone has a right to live & work, and
 speak their native language wherever and whenever they please. 
That's another thing we demand. All signs and official documents 
should be in Spanish. Teachers must teach in Spanish. Soon, more
 people here in Houston will speak Spanish than English. It is our right!
-

Jim: If I were to cross over the border into Mexico without proper 
documentation, what rights would I have there?


-Juan: None. You would probably go to jail, but that's different.
-

Jim: How is it different? You said everyone has the right to live 
wherever they please.
-

Juan: You Gringos are a bunch of land grabbing thieves. Now you want 
Mexico too? Mexico has its rights. You Gringos have no rights in 
Mexico. Why would you want to go there anyway? There is no free 
medical service, schools, or welfare there for foreigners such as
 you. You cannot even own land in my country. Stay in the country of your birth.

-
Jim: I can see that there is no way that we can agree on this issue. 
Thank you for your comments.
-

Juan: Viva Mexico!



Pass this along to every American citizen in your address books and to every 
representative in the state and federal government. If you choose to remain 
uninvolved, do not be amazed when you no longer have a nation to call your 
own nor anything you have worked for left since it will be "redistributed" to the 
activists while you are so peacefully staying out of the "fray". 
Check history, it is full of nations/empires that disappeared when
 their citizens no longer held their core beliefs and values. One person 
CAN make a difference. One plus one plus one plus one plus one plus one.......
The battle for our secure borders and immigration laws that actually 
mean something, however, hasn't even begun. 
If this ticks YOU off...PASS IT ON!

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I replied:

Thanks, Barb, for including me in your forward. My feeling about illegal immigrants is sort of like my feeling about those of our kind who are out there still suffering instead of in our fellowship: "BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD THERE GO I."

Here is another point of view about illegal immigrants.

Oh, by the way, this is what snopes.com, which investigates "urban legends," had to say on the authenticity of the "interview."


[Editor's Note: I questioned the authenticity of this "transcript" because it sounded about as authentic as a sendup skit starring Carlos Mencia posing as "Juan" and Steven Colbert posing as Bill O'Reilly posing as Charlie Rose posing as "Jim." So I looked it up. As for "Juan," I would have caught on a nanosecond sooner if Juan had referred to himself not as a Mexican but as a "beaner." Looks like it falls in the category of an immigrant-basher who is making shit up.]

Continuing with my reply:

"Oh," as Lieutenant Columbo says, "just one more thing": I'm more concerned about the "redistribution" of our wealth not by brown, Spanish-speaking people but by white, English-speaking men who pay themselves billions to export our jobs to poor countries for dirt-cheap labor.

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Postscript: In reality, I replied to my friend only with a link to the Snopes urban legend site. I hoped I might at least disabuse her of the phoniness of what she was no doubt unwittingly passing on. I hope that we will remain on good terms. This is a small town and I am not Eudora Welty.