Chutzpah -- Teil Zwei
For the record, let me say absolutely that I love immigrants. It's foreigners with which I have a problem.
In truth, immigration is something near and dear to my heart. As regular readers know, the Ever More Beautiful Long-suffering Official Spouse (EMBLOS) of these pages hails from the banks of the beautiful blue Danube in Germany. She came here as a student, and agreed to stay and marry me, with only minimal Manchurian Candidate-like coaxing on my part. (If you meet us in public, please avoid using the word "Schadenfreude.")
My kids speak German, as well as English. The EMBLOS speaks German at home. Our holiday traditions are wholly German. Not only do I see nothing wrong with this, I encourage it, because, in some small way, it helps diminish some of the parochialism that exists in our country.
As far as the transformation of the EMBLOS to "Permanent Resident Alien," a label she bears proudly, we had to jump through a number of hoops; hoops which I'm sure are now more numerous and onerous in our post 9-11 world. Aside from collating hundreds of pages of documents, affidavits, and so forth to demonstrate that our marriage was not a sham for purposes of immigration fraud, we had to undergo the dreaded "interview" with a smarmy INS bureaucrat, dressed in his Wal-Mart shirt and polyester pants, a bit of white congealed spittle on the corner of his mouth.
Similes fail me.
I recall being fifteen in hospital wearing one of those skimpy gowns while a horde of doctors, including several attractive female surgeons examined me in all my adolescent glory. The doctor babes were obviously not impressed. I was humbled, to say the least. I needed therapy for years afterward.
That hospital experience was better than the INS "interview."
In addition to answering "Newlywed Game" type questions about me, the EMBLOS, whose documentation clearly showed her birthdate in the 1960's, had to answer 20 or so questions about her activities in Germany during the years 1933 - 45.
I'm not kidding.
On the bright side, it was certainly a relief to find out she had never been a member of the National Socialist German Workers' Party; or the Allegemeine SS; or the Waffen SS; or the Totenkopf SS; or the Geheime Staatspolizei; or the Sturmabteilung; or any of a number of individually named Einsatzgruppen; or the Fascist Party in Italy; or the Romanian equivalent of any of those organizations; or worked in a concentration camp; or was a member of a boatload of other groups, seemingly ad infinitum and ad nauseum.
I'm really not kidding.
The worst, of course, was that during the interview, this INS troll, sitting behind his fake walnut laminate desk, on three different occasions separated by questions about Stalingrad, Leningrad, The Warsaw Ghetto, my brand of shaving cream, etc., asked whether we had "consummated" our marriage. These questions were asked in the tone of a Perry Mason wannabe in the hope, I suppose, that we would start weeping and confess that we were "unconsummated."
The third time this ass (or "arse" for my British friends) asked, I refrained from inquiring whether he needed actual physical proof, like our joint account bank statements or house lease. Perhaps, I thought, the EMBLOS and I could have go on his desk and he could then move on to the next darn question in good conscience.
The bottom line is I know what a hassle it can be for people to move to this country. I know people do so for a variety of reasons: economic opportunity, freedom from oppression, a new start. That's what we've always been about. Indeed, people will risk ocean journeys of hundreds of miles in leaky boats, or hikes across open desert just to be able to cut grass or serve slurpees at the local 7-11.
These are the sort of people I want moving here. They are the philosophical descendants of the Pilgrims in their hopes and dreams.
This is why the current immigration bru-ha-ha is so distressing to me.
Security issues aside for the moment, I have nothing against illegal immigrants. What bothers me, however, is this. The current protests seem to be about the rights and privileges afforded to citizens of the United States. No one is speaking of responsibility.
What do I mean by "responsibility?" I mean, I don't begrudge St. Patrick's Day Parades, Columbus Day Parades, Chinese New Year Celebrations, Cinco de Mayo parties or anything else which celebrates our roots in some other less fortunate part of the world. Indeed, I like it.
All I ask is that people who want to be here sign on to a few very simple ideas, towit: All men are created equal; they are endowed by God with inalienable rights, such as life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. Governments are instituted to protect those rights and derive their legitimacy from the consent of the governed.
Those ideas make us what we are. Without them, we're just a bunch of people from different parts of the planet, spending our time bitching about something somebody did five hundred years ago to our ancestors, and pleading special privilege because of it.
Anybody, anywhere, willing to accept the fundamental principles upon which this country was founded and who is willing to go to the mat to defend those principles, is welcome here in my book.
I hope this explains the first sentence of this post. We may all be descended from immigrants. Once we get here, however, we should cease being foreigners.
At least, I hope so.
Cheers.
R. Sherman
In truth, immigration is something near and dear to my heart. As regular readers know, the Ever More Beautiful Long-suffering Official Spouse (EMBLOS) of these pages hails from the banks of the beautiful blue Danube in Germany. She came here as a student, and agreed to stay and marry me, with only minimal Manchurian Candidate-like coaxing on my part. (If you meet us in public, please avoid using the word "Schadenfreude.")
My kids speak German, as well as English. The EMBLOS speaks German at home. Our holiday traditions are wholly German. Not only do I see nothing wrong with this, I encourage it, because, in some small way, it helps diminish some of the parochialism that exists in our country.
As far as the transformation of the EMBLOS to "Permanent Resident Alien," a label she bears proudly, we had to jump through a number of hoops; hoops which I'm sure are now more numerous and onerous in our post 9-11 world. Aside from collating hundreds of pages of documents, affidavits, and so forth to demonstrate that our marriage was not a sham for purposes of immigration fraud, we had to undergo the dreaded "interview" with a smarmy INS bureaucrat, dressed in his Wal-Mart shirt and polyester pants, a bit of white congealed spittle on the corner of his mouth.
Similes fail me.
I recall being fifteen in hospital wearing one of those skimpy gowns while a horde of doctors, including several attractive female surgeons examined me in all my adolescent glory. The doctor babes were obviously not impressed. I was humbled, to say the least. I needed therapy for years afterward.
That hospital experience was better than the INS "interview."
In addition to answering "Newlywed Game" type questions about me, the EMBLOS, whose documentation clearly showed her birthdate in the 1960's, had to answer 20 or so questions about her activities in Germany during the years 1933 - 45.
I'm not kidding.
On the bright side, it was certainly a relief to find out she had never been a member of the National Socialist German Workers' Party; or the Allegemeine SS; or the Waffen SS; or the Totenkopf SS; or the Geheime Staatspolizei; or the Sturmabteilung; or any of a number of individually named Einsatzgruppen; or the Fascist Party in Italy; or the Romanian equivalent of any of those organizations; or worked in a concentration camp; or was a member of a boatload of other groups, seemingly ad infinitum and ad nauseum.
I'm really not kidding.
The worst, of course, was that during the interview, this INS troll, sitting behind his fake walnut laminate desk, on three different occasions separated by questions about Stalingrad, Leningrad, The Warsaw Ghetto, my brand of shaving cream, etc., asked whether we had "consummated" our marriage. These questions were asked in the tone of a Perry Mason wannabe in the hope, I suppose, that we would start weeping and confess that we were "unconsummated."
The third time this ass (or "arse" for my British friends) asked, I refrained from inquiring whether he needed actual physical proof, like our joint account bank statements or house lease. Perhaps, I thought, the EMBLOS and I could have go on his desk and he could then move on to the next darn question in good conscience.
The bottom line is I know what a hassle it can be for people to move to this country. I know people do so for a variety of reasons: economic opportunity, freedom from oppression, a new start. That's what we've always been about. Indeed, people will risk ocean journeys of hundreds of miles in leaky boats, or hikes across open desert just to be able to cut grass or serve slurpees at the local 7-11.
These are the sort of people I want moving here. They are the philosophical descendants of the Pilgrims in their hopes and dreams.
This is why the current immigration bru-ha-ha is so distressing to me.
Security issues aside for the moment, I have nothing against illegal immigrants. What bothers me, however, is this. The current protests seem to be about the rights and privileges afforded to citizens of the United States. No one is speaking of responsibility.
What do I mean by "responsibility?" I mean, I don't begrudge St. Patrick's Day Parades, Columbus Day Parades, Chinese New Year Celebrations, Cinco de Mayo parties or anything else which celebrates our roots in some other less fortunate part of the world. Indeed, I like it.
All I ask is that people who want to be here sign on to a few very simple ideas, towit: All men are created equal; they are endowed by God with inalienable rights, such as life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. Governments are instituted to protect those rights and derive their legitimacy from the consent of the governed.
Those ideas make us what we are. Without them, we're just a bunch of people from different parts of the planet, spending our time bitching about something somebody did five hundred years ago to our ancestors, and pleading special privilege because of it.
Anybody, anywhere, willing to accept the fundamental principles upon which this country was founded and who is willing to go to the mat to defend those principles, is welcome here in my book.
I hope this explains the first sentence of this post. We may all be descended from immigrants. Once we get here, however, we should cease being foreigners.
At least, I hope so.
Cheers.
R. Sherman
posted by R. Sherman at 12:01 AM
15 Comments:
That's what I don't get about the demos - they turn up waving their own flags instead of Old Glory. If they're so damned patriotic, why didn't they stay home?
Can't be too careful with those Germans, tho'. Tricky devils, Germans...
"Schadenfreude" - I love it and enjoy it every day.
O, how I remember the dreaded INS interview. Fortunately, I am blue-eyed and blond. Can't imagine what the less fortunate have to endure at the hands of the "Homeland Inquisition".
Cheers,
H.
St Patrick's Day. Hmmmmm!
The thing that stuck in my craw was when the IRA were allowed to raise money in the States to support their murderous pursuits.
Your comments equally apply to the UK. I strongly believe young immigrants should be made welcome, they will be working to provide pensions for an ageing baby boomer UK generation, but they should be encouraged to assimilate into the local mores and not hive off into ghettos. The government should also market immigration as a positive force, instead of planting seeds of suspicion for the less intelligent to turn into national front type fodder.
Ivan, I agree with you. It seems to be bad form to want a part of what we have to offer while at the same time, telling us were horrible people.
Hermann, see you Friday at Pea Ridge around noonish.
Pat, the problem with Irish Americans, is they thought they were supporting the warm fuzzy 1916 version of the IRA and not the 1970's marxist thugs. Plus, the IRA was collecting the cash only for, (wink, wink), "political" activities.
S.B., the studies are mixed on the economic impact of illegal aliens, but I think they probably contribute more to our economy than they take out, all things considered. The other problem is no one can talk about things like "assimilation" without being branded a "racist." And when you have politicians competing for blocks of voters, the system promotes balkanization.
Thanks for the comments.
Cheers
History shows that immigration will occur whether we like it or not, that language and culture will change whether we like it or not. In fact, about the only thing all historians would agree upon is that change is constant and unstoppable.
I can't help but feel a little like that poor soul standing in front of the tank at Tiannamen Square. I want to stop the world for a moment, sort out some people, get everyone together to agree what is best for all, and then disappear into the crowd - but at any moment, I fear that I will be flattened by history and my voice lost to the crowds.
Interesting comment, Will. Rome had an immigration problem, as well. See e.g. Visigoths, Vandals, etc. Eventually, Rome attempted to accomodate and co-opt the newbies to its own purposes. It didn't work and Rome disintegrated, in part because people forgot what it meant to be "Roman." Parallels today?
Cheers.
It is interesting that US agriculture somehow isn't ever discussed regarding illegal immigration. Certainly in California, the vast majority of farmworkers are here illegally, so I would concur with you that in terms of American ag, they are certainly contributing more than they take from us (and they are most definitely NOT taking jobs away from American citizens - how many of you want to pick strawberries for a living? Didn't think so. Or for that matter, pay $10.00 for a tiny basket of strawberries.)
Don't know what the answer is, but the double standard is pretty pronounced.
Andy, it seems that all the powers that be have a stake in doing nothing about the issue. The 'Pubs want cheap labor; the Dems want votes; The Mexican government wants a safety valve for its disaffected citizens, who will not clamour for social change in Chihuahua if they're picking lettuce in Fresno.
As I said, I don't begrudge people coming here, provided they are willing to accept and affirm what it means to be an American. I liken it to "conversion." That is, giving up what we were before for something better.
We are the only country in the world based soley on an idea. If we lose sight of that, there's no reason for us to exist as a nation.
Cheers.
Our experiment is an idea that keeps evolving. The Constitution was designed with this in mind. We have expanded this nation before to include more land and to include more people and have always grown stronger as a result of it - because we have added something new to the mix. But relevant to that idea is the main contention that they wanted to come here and join us, not make us into them. We cannot fight the tide of history. Even by maintaining the status quo, our nation is changing. The question is, what part of the change do we want to try and control?
Will, you pinpoint the problem in Europe. In the haze of multiculturalism, the immigrants in Europe want the countries to conform to their (the immigrants') expectations. See e.g. Cartoon Flap. Somewhere, however, a line must be drawn, because the ideas expressed in the preamble to the Declaration of Independence are the absolute apex of political philosophy.
Cheers.
Randall, you are of course correct – I should have used the word "integration" not "assimilation. and of course the failure to differentiate is confusing. Sorry!. Modern history is a testimony to the dangers of ascribing homogenised identities to the people who inhabit the political space of "nation state". Our collective identity, as it broadens, needs to be receptive of "otherness". We must recognise the mutual learning experience that exposure to so-termed difference can bring, (we all like our Indian, Japanese, Thai, take-aways!). Of course we are now in danger of dragging along the residual paradigms of constructing national insider groups through the xenophobic sacrifice of outsider groups. The controversies surrounding the general treatment of immigrants here in the UK is a reminder of that, and I guess it is similar in the US. We tend to pride ourselves on our practice of tolerance without admitting that tolerance is not equality. Tolerance is a hierarchical perspective; a downward gaze full of self-serving moral posturing.
Sadly politicians are no help, they revel in squabbling and sniping in a one-upmanship game which is neither impressive nor edifying, and their conduct breeds disrespect and cynicism in voters, instead of getting their act together and finding a viable solution. Precious time and money are wasted pursuing such matters, which have little relevance to the public, and the problems with immigration and other important issues remain in abeyance.
S.B, good points. That's why I think immigration should be easier for us here in the U.S. An immigrant to France or Denmark, will never truly be "French" or "Danish" because those are ethnic identities, whereas here, our "American-ness" is predicated upon a philosophy, not (in theory at least) the composition of our DNA.
Cheers.
Dave and I had to show the IRS our wedding photos from Scotland, and agree to let them make surprise early-morning visits to see if we were sharing a bed! They never did, but they wanted to makes sure we understood they had the right.
As a tall fair-haired European I was treated noticably better than some of the immigrants from Mexico and Somalia and Laos in the IRS office in Minnesota. It was embarrassing and reprehensible and I wanted to tell the others that: "This is not what America's all about. Just get past these idiots and you'll be treated much better" I hope I was right. This whole immigration debate has made us much more protectionist and even anti-American (as I see it, anyway).
Fareed Zakaria is one of my favourite political commentators and has some great things to say on the subject. Most of all he urges us not to immitate the discontent-fomenting immigration policies of Europe. He advocates amnesty, and I agree. But I would also add that raising the minimum wage (which Congress hasn't done sine '97) would put Americans back into the work-force and doing the jobs that they aren't supposed to want to do. Of course they don't! Minimum wage still puts you in at below the official poverty-line in almost all the states and it is simply not a fair day's pay for a fair day's work. Americans are a hard-working people and if the minimum wage were raised to make it worth their while to come off welfare then they would compete with Mexicans for the jobs and we could quit, as a nation, our hypocritical attitude towards illegal immigrants: we need them, they prop up our economy, but similarly, we don't want to have to deal with them.
Raise the minimum wage, grant amnesty to those already here - they're not criminals in the sense that they do us any actual harm - there are far greater malfeasers in the administration. And tighten border control - that's where harm could truly arise, from country-skipping terrorists who do wish America harm.
It's a mess down there. My husband was on the border once, in a wee town somewhere, and he just wandered into Mexico without even realizing it at first. He said it was just as easy to wander back. Nobody was there at all. Nobody official at any rate.
I enjoyed this post and all the other commentators take on things too.
Right it's 2:45am. Why am I trying to solve the world's problems from the sofa at this hour? 'Tis the lure of Blogland.
Sam, we had the wedding album, too. We were married here in Missouri and the EMBLOS' family appeared. That helped.
I've hiked alone along the border and have bumped into illegals. No big deal.
As far as minimum wage is concerned, raising it only affects teenagers. Very few jobs pay minimum wage. Even McDonalds starts above $8.00 per hour. Not a lot, I agree.
But that's a topic for another post on my "Economics" blog.
Or not.
Cheers.
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