Reply #255: The "crime" of the illegal workers is working at a job. [View All]

[pampango]

There is no comparable crime for citizens. We do call drug dealers and bank robbers "criminals" but society has decided that their "jobs" are not socially constructive. The same cannot be said for the jobs the illegal aliens work at (for the most part.) Just like you would not deport someone who steals an apple (which is a crime), I would not deport someone for working at a socially useful job.

If you have ever lived in the Third World, you know how difficult it is for a poor person to "pull himself up by his own bootstraps." If a poor Mexican believes that he cannot support his family if he stays there, he has a choice to make. He can stay and fight for truth, justice and the Mexican way and risk his family's welfare, or he can immigrate and feed his family.

You and I may wish that he would stay there, risk his family's future, and battle for a better future in Mexico, but I do not feel morally superior enough to make the decision for him. Likewise, many at DU may feel that I should quit my job and become a full-time community/political activist which enable me to do more to improve my society, though my family and I would suffer financially. I choose not to do so and to continue working at my job, largely for selfish and family reasons.