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It’s time to reach out to immigrants
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I hope you all had a great Christmas (if you celebrate it) and that you were able to give and receive to your heart’s content. Phoenixville has been gearing up for this day for quite some time now, with many organizations chipping in to try to make the holidays happy for everyone. I have had the pleasure of interviewing these folks, and more recently, taking pictures for them. One donation has stood out in my mind though, mostly because it has kept me thinking the past few days. The “1:30 Golf Gang,” who play at the Phoenixville Country Club, donated to the Phoenixville Library. “If you donate food, you feed a person for a day. If you donate books, you feed a mind for life,” is the rationale I heard, and it stands quite strong. This year, this donation will go to help Operation Open Door, which is the library’s new program to bring more Latinos (as well as African Americans) to the library. While I was speaking with Dorian Wells, Director of Development and Volunteer Services at the library, he said that some of the Hispanic population may be afraid of coming to the library because they think the library works in conjunction with the government. If they go to the library, they might be found out as illegal immigrants and get in a world of trouble. The goal of the new program is to reach out to these people and inform them about the library so that they can use it to feed their minds. Okay, so this long-winded explanation has gotten me to the point of my column today: what to do about immigration. Well, I’m no expert on immigration and how to deal with illegal immigrants (though, with as many as are said to be in Reading, I guess I should start learning). What I do know is that the library is handling this situation the right way. Whether or not we have more immigrants coming in, at least some of those we have in America are going to stay here (legal or otherwise). And while I have heard quite often “They’re stealing American jobs,” I also see on TV the show “Dirty Jobs.” I see those awful jobs that no one else wants and who’s working there? That’s right — Hispanics are picking up dead chickens and spending all day crammed in mushroom farm houses (and I know those are smelly because just driving by them makes me gag). And this is just the little exposure I see on television. At Weaver’s Orchard near my home, Hispanics are the ones who are out in the sun working on the farm all day, picking fruit or pruning trees. I have no way of knowing whether these workers are illegal or not, but it is pretty obvious to me that they are working hard at their jobs and helping society function. So, instead of shouting “Let’s send them back where they came from,” let’s find a way to make them a part of our society. At the library, they can learn to read and write and hopefully bring themselves up out of the dirt. I’ve taken enough history classes to know that most people who came over to America during my great-grandparents generation were very, very poor. They worked hard at manual labor jobs and hoped that their children would be better off than they were. This seems quite similar to what is going on currently. Children of the current immigrants are learning English and if they have access to the library, they can learn to integrate themselves into society. Their parents are taking these dirty jobs to give their children a chance to do better and I think it’s great that the library wants to be a part of this undertaking. I understand that there are many factors that I haven’t touched on. I know that the Reading Hospital is losing a lot of money because many of the Hispanics in Reading do not have health insurance. Not to mention taxes (no, really, I’m not going into that). I’m not saying that this is a perfect situation. I simply think that it is a situation that will not go away as easily as blocking off all of our borders and being isolated as a country. Fortunately or unfortunately, we very much live in a global world and instead of wishing ourselves back to “simpler times” we should start playing with the hand we’ve been dealt. Posted by Laurie Perini Editor's Note: This article was republished from the paper earlier this week to give the reader an opportunity to post their thoughts and comments. |
posted by The Phoenix Files at
3:28 PM
5 Comments:
These same immigrants that you feel the need to "reach out to" are the same ones that make extra work for local law officials. These same immigrants live 8 to 9 in an apartment, travel in hordes and attempt to rip off every business in the area. These same immigrants would rather work those "dirt" jobs than live in their own country so I refuse to feel any pity for them. These same immigrants don't go to the library because the library doesn't serve a purpose for them. These same immigrants would rather drink excessively, get caught drinking and driving, and use the lame excuse of needing an interpreter to tie their cases up in court. These same immigrants are coddled by people like you, who should concentrate on your own country instead of illegal aliens who don't give a crap about you. These same immigrants are here illegally, and take advantage of any situation made possible, except the ones that would better themselves to a community. These same immigrants are a burden to our society, and should be sent back to where they came from.
However, it is columns like this that will give one or two bleeding hearts out there to waste their time in wanting to help them. They don't want our help. They want to do whatever they want, and not learn English. Why would they want to learn English when it's easier for them to speak their own language to criticize others? Why learn English so they could actually be held accountable for their wrong-doings? It is easier for them to sit and shrug their shoulders as if they don't understand what is going on. If they are that oblivious to things, they need to simply go away.
The comment from anonymous is my sentiments exactly. Do any of these immigrants pay any kind of taxes?
The illegal immigrants are going to put revitalization of Phoenixville at a dead stop. No one will want to patronize businesses in this town after takin a look around at all the rentals filled with these immigrants.
The writer of this blog is such a liberal it makes me sick. The United States wouldn't be around if this was the only type of citizens we did have.
Laurie, you fail to miss a great deal in what the illegal population pulls from our society and fails to really produce or give back. They are a drain on our schools as they use our schools without paying taxes. They are a drain on our hospitals as they do not have insurance for regular doctors visits. They take jobs not only from our young but some of our lower income and elderly, again they do not pay taxes; hurting our state tax, school tax and even our local municipal $52 tax. There is a perpencity to find trouble or vice a versa if you are of the mind to give them the benefit, causing drains on our police and fire departments. This in turn places a choke hold on our court system and our prison system when and if found guilty. Being illegal, it allows the low life landlords to charge rents that are not in line with the area; afterall who are they going to complain too? They are permitted to live in places that have not been properly inspected to house the multi families that live in these apartments causing fire hazards. They are often perpetrators of crimes such as stealing; again burdening our police and courts.
Laurie, in another article you want to go to a mall to give hugs. I appreciate your idealism, however misguided it is. I personally would ask that you try to write about somehting that you hacew a clue about. This paper has not had a decent journalist in some time. Hone your skills, learn how to investigate, dig for stories and stop trying to write fluff. If you truly want to change the world start there.
Laurie, you state that you have taken enough history classes to know that everyone here came from somewhere. The point that you fail to make is our relatives, including yours did it LEGALLY! What about ILLEGAL IS IT THAT YOU FAIL TO UNDERSTAND? It truly is black and white, if you are not here legally, technically you are treaspassing and should be arrested as such.
Will the author please let me know just where you live. I and a few dozen of my friends would like to drop by and stay for a few months or so. We will clean the toilet. You will have to pay the rent, though. And when one of us is sick pay for us to go to the emergency room. And you will have to speak our language, which will be what used to be called by greater generations "Greek to you". Please put up signs in your house and neighborhood in our language. Several of us are pregnant or have young children. Although we cannot read and write in the language of the country in which we were born we expect you to teach these children in the language we speak - not in the language of the oppressors from whom you come and who worked to build the country into which you and your parents were born and to which your grandparents migrated legally and build the roads and the schools and the sewers and the libraries. Park your car someone else as we all have cars and vans from our illegal employer. And get ready for that Phoenixville Hospital to close down and move away, like 2 hospitals did in Reading because of a population unable to pay for the health care. And get ready for more gunshot wounds in the wards from the gangs that will be increasing their numbers and their violence. At the first fridays, do not talk to the people on Bridge Street, walk around the corners to Hall or Gay or Washington and talk to the groups of men hanging out on the corners and not the smiling yuppies at the Irish pub.
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