Reflection on Class Discussion #2

In the class discussion about Immigration, we had a very heated and intense argument. We talked about the fairness of the benefits illegal immigrants versus citizens who rightfully pay for those benefits. There was a lot of arguments whether they should have the rights for healthcare for free while other people actually pay for that. I think they should have as much right as anyone to come to the U.S. and become a citizen. 


I've heard plenty of horrible stories of what's going on in Mexico right now, and i know that if i lived there I would try to come to the U.S. also, even if it meant coming illegally.  A friend told me about how her cousins have a hard time sleeping at night in Mexico because all they can hear is gunshots coming from an elementary school down the street from their house. Even when I visited Mexico last year during Winter Break I noticed a big change in the usual customs of the town. Kids the age of 5 and possibly younger would walk around freely from place to place with no supervision and now not even adults will walk alone. At night there would be a lot of vendors selling all kinds of food, but this time i realized everyone closed their shops early and went in their houses instead of being out on their porches watching people walk by and socializing. Over the summer a friend of mine visited the same town I go to and she told me that even during the day there is no one outside. My dad even told me that the drug cartel, The Zetas, has already taken control of his hometown. They have already threatened my aunt because she refused to give up her vacation home to them, and they have also threatened many more people with their homes. Those that refuse get their house broken into and the Zetas claims it as their own.


Mexico is a very horrible place to be right now. No one deserves to live in a place like that. Calling illegal immigrants "criminals" because they came here illegally is a harsh judgement. What's so criminal about wanting to go somewhere safe for yourself AND your family? The only criminals I see are the people pushing them out of the country and back into Mexico and the Drug Cartels that are making them want to leave it.