Many thanks to Dorothy Largay for her letter “We Can Stop Immigration Today!” in the July 24 Independent. There’s the economic argument in a nut shell! I would like to add that the cultural argument is at least as compelling for me as the economic one, though I can’t hope to state it as well.
Can you imagine what Santa Barbara and the surrounding region would feel like without its vibrant Mexican culture? Mexico is the flavor, the feeling, the energy, and the essence of Santa Barbara. The fresh energy of Mexican immigrants is what gives Santa Barbara its life blood. They are real, hard-working people, good people with families who participate in and sustain our cultural heritage. They are welcome here!
So what, if many of our neighbors are undocumented? Don’t blame them that it is difficult or impossible for them to become legal here. Not many years ago they could have become legal residents and citizens. They have been the heart and soul of our community since long before Mexico ceded California to the U.S. at gunpoint in 1848, after President “Manifest Destiny” Polk captured Mexico City in an obscene act of presidential overreach that foreshadows our current tragic circumstances.
Shame on the President to characterize our good neighbors as violent criminals and animals, and to create a climate of fear with his Trump Cartel raids. The most dangerous criminal in all the Americas is in the White House.
