Let us suppose that Frederick County is a pot on the stove. The ingredients of this pot contain the actions, sentiments, and emotions of Frederick County residents as they relate to illegal immigration.
Most recently, the contents of the pot have been heating up rapidly. I certainly hope it doesn't come to a boil, but I fear that it might. Once the ingredients of a recipe are brought to a boil, the entire chemistry can be changed. A chemistry change can result in a positive outcome (e.g. boiling water to make steam); but it can also result in an irrevocable, unwanted, negative outcome ( e.g. burning toast to the point that it becomes completely charred).
I can already see negative results of the recently proposed changes by the way that a fair number of people refer to or treat all those who appear to be immigrants. By proposing that we rid our community of "illegals," we are stirring the pot.
It has stirred up and emboldened those people whose motives for ridding the community of "illegals" are purely prejudicial and discriminatory. These are the same people who can look at someone and believe they can determine if they are legal or illegal, simply by the way that they look, talk, dress, color of their skin, or stature.
It is my understanding that there are only 4 people (i.e. immigration judges) in the State of Maryland who are authorized to make that determination. Not even our local police can determine if someone is legal or illegal. This is a complicated process.
When a handful of our elected officials announced their plans for addressing the problem of illegal immigrants in our County, they elicited a sort of group mentality that is very unbecoming of our communities. It gives prejudice-motivated people a license to spew and exhibit hatred for a segment of our growing population and for stakeholders who should be valued and respected (not all Latinos/Hispanics are here illegally).
Too many local non-Latinos are already justifying their reasons to see and regard anyone that has a "Hispanic" appearance in a different light. They justify to themselves, and to others, why they need to "do something about these people." They claim that "it's costing us too much." Does anyone know exactly how much it's costing? They claim that these people are "draining our resources." But does anyone know what the real statistics are?
There is a website that could shed some light on the matter, for those who are interested. I think most people would be surprised to learn the true facts related to the contribution that immigrants make to this country. Visit: www.whitehouse.gov/cea/cea_immigration_062007.pdf to obtain real statistics.
I think some of our elected officials are moved by people's frustrations. But the frustrations need to be aimed at our Federal Government, not our neighbors. The Federal Government's failure to address the issue is causing local governments to stir the pot and turn up the temperature.
Some would argue that they don't care if "they all go back to where they came from." They say, "These people are not here legally, therefore they don't belong here." They would love nothing better than to get rid of every last one. So, do we throw out a net and capture all the Latinos, in the hopes of catching some "illegals?" Is that really the way we want to treat our fellow human beings?
The next time you are out and about, I invite you to conduct a self-assessment of how you think and feel when you see someone that appears to be Latino. If you're honest with yourself, you might be surprised to find that you have some ugly sentiments that have been stirred up and exacerbated by all the public attention and focus on the illegal immigration issue.
None of us want criminals living in our communities, regardless of their residency status. I think we can all agree on that. But, we need to make sure we don't violate people's rights in the process. We need to be inclusive of all races and ethnicities.
Please remember that God created and loves us all.
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