On the way home from work today I saw the sign: “We Demand Driver’s Licenses.”
The organization that placed the sign? Cosecha.
Cosecha is an organization DEMANDING the rights of citizens and legal residents for illegals. I’ll let their website speak for itself:
“Joe Biden is the new president of the United States.
“Our fight is only just beginning.
“For too long, undocumented immigrants have been denied basic dignity and respect in this country.
“We have lived with the daily fear of being separated from our loved ones or left to suffer die in detention centers. We have been criminalized by police and terrorized by ICE. We have been forced to live in the shadows, unable to return home, and exploited in the workplace, even as our essential labor allows this country to function.
“The truth is against immigrant communities have been a mainstay of bipartisan politics for decades. Now, Democrats have control over the White House, Senate, and the House of Representatives—just as they did in 2009 when Obama first took office, and soon deported millions of our loved ones and community members.
“We have learned from the failures of the past and Movimiento Cosecha is ready to fight against the current administration to win the protection, dignity, and respect we deserve. Sign up now to join us!”
No one has criminalized you; you did that to yourselves and your families when you entered the United States ILLEGALLY. That choice results in terror. Strangely enough, that is even Biblical:
“Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same…”, Romans 13:1-3.
You live in the shadows and live with terror because you CHOOSE to; no one is FORCING you to do that.
Being exploited is a result of being here illegally. As a citizen or legal resident, there are certain protections to reduce the likelihood of being exploited by employers, landlords, etc. By choosing to remain here illegally, you CHOOSE to make targets of yourselves.
Now, I do not for one moment believe that anyone deserves to be terrorized or exploited. Nonetheless, this is a result of choices you have made.
Further, I take issue with the basic premise that we OWE you certain benefits merely because you managed to infiltrate our country without being caught: driver’s licenses, free public education, free housing, and even free medical and food.
Licenses and education are benefits provided to citizens and legal residents. Moneys deducted from their pay or paid by them directly cover the costs associated with providing these benefits, so these aren’t “free” benefits despite what politicians would have us believe.
Driver’s licenses help establish LEGAL RESIDENCY and are also associated in many states with voter registration - both benefits accorded to citizens and legal residents.
“Free” medical and food are, with some exceptions, provided as a safety net to taxpaying citizens and legal residents; they are not truly “free,” they are provided by moneys collected from taxpayers.
I have lived in a couple of different countries. In both instances, I entered legally. I had a means of support in place. I paid my own way and provided for my own needs. I learned the languages and customs. I didn’t DEMAND anything or expect preferential treatment. I obeyed the laws. I used public transportation for much of my travel.
If you want to live freely and enjoy the benefits afforded by this country, you need to do what hundreds of thousands of people desiring to become citizens do: apply for legal residency. No, because you are here illegally it won’t be easy and it may be costly. But if you want to live openly, freely, and without fear, stop making demands and start applying.
If not, despite what you say, no one is stopping you from going home.
