Hey guys! So I haven't blogged much these past couple of months because I only have internet when I come to my parents' house! I found a way to upload pictures (finally) but the cute pictures will have to go on another post or this post will be SUUUPER long (because it already is ridiculously long). Just some more insight on what the southwest part of our country faces. Here we go!
1. My mom recently shopped at Burlington Coat Factory where, at the register, she was handed a coupon for 20% off her next purchase. One side of the coupon was printed in English, saying" Come back and save 20% on any single item* during our fall fashion event". Notice the asterisk next to the word 'item'. Well, on the OPPOSITE side of this coupon reads the same thing in Spanish, only the fine print explaining the asterisk is in SPANISH ONLY. There is no explanation in English. I read Spanish, so I checked out what the fine print says. It gives tons of detail such as one coupon per person per transaction, coupon must be presented at time of purchase, may not use coupon to purchase home decor, jewelry, or gift cards. My mom does not speak Spanish. She was so irritated by this coupon (probably because she is a frequent Burlington shopper and SHOULD be irritated) that she said she was going to try and buy something the coupon says you cannot buy and when the cashier tries to tell her she can't, she'll complain that she does not read Spanish and this isn't her problem. Go, mom!
2. A few months ago, some of my family was watching the news. Two UTEP (University of Texas at El Paso) students were interviewed. One was a legal resident of the United States and the other was an illegal immigrant from Mexico. (Did you get that last part? ILLEGAL immigrant. A.K.A. criminal). For some unbeknownst reason, UTEP has a scholarship for illegal immigrants. (Again, does this make any sense to anyone with half a brain?) These illegals go to school for FREE. Zero dollars. When being interviewed, the illegal girl explains that this is her only opportunity to get an education. The US resident says something about how she'd love to go to school for free and how it isn't fair that she has to work and go to school like everyone else while these people get a free pass. So apparently, this scholarship is called "The International Scholarship". A friend in my ward at church is a citizen of Canada, who recently married another one of my friends, who is a US citizen. She went down to UTEP to try and apply for this "International Scholarship" and the lady told her it was only for Mexicans. Okay there are about a million things I would have snapped back at that person if I'd been told that. And I'd fight it until UTEP was sued for discrimination. Either make a Mexican Scholarship and call it that, or actually make your International Scholarship an International Scholarship- which would include every country in the entire world. Because just as she can't apply for it, neither could an exchange student from China, or Germany. Why do we put up with this?
3. I recently watched a YouTube video on Anchor Babies. Women swim the Rio Grande at 9 months pregnant and show up to the hospital in McAllen, Texas still dripping wet and in labor. (So they risk straining themselves and killing their child or having the baby IN the water. Did they ever think about having the baby in Mexico and then doing it the right way once they want to come here?) The hospital doesn't check for citizenship, they just help the woman in need. The woman in the video being interviewed of course doesn't speak English, so she has a translator. The interviewer lets her know that many people think it isn't fair that we have to pay for these types of births through our tax money. The lady responded with "I don't understand the resentment". Of course she doesn't. Because she's living life for free! I wouldn't give a crap about anything either if everything was handed to me on a silver platter. She had a scheduled C-section, too of all things. This was a $4700 surgery that you and I paid for. At least if you're going to come over here and partake of our benefits, have your baby naturally. Maybe that will be good birth control for you next time. The shocker to me was that 40% (by the way, that's a gigantic number here) of ALL BABIES born in this one hospital in McAllen are born to illegal immigrants. That is ONE hospital in ONE city in ONE state within the U.S.A. Who are we kidding by thinking this is okay? I'd like to opt out here and NOT pay for it. Anyone who feels sympathy, go right ahead and fork out your million dollars out of the bank. WE CAN'T AFFORD THIS. Not as individuals, and not as a country. Times are tough, but they are tough everywhere. There is a maximum occupancy on boats for a reason. The U.S.A. is our mother ship and if we just keep letting people jump on without a pass or an invitation, our boat will sink. And I didn't sign up for that! None of us did. But by doing nothing about it, we are stabbing our own people in the back. I read a comment by an individual on Facebook who felt sympathy for these illegals. She mentioned how these people want citizenship NOW and the process is just too long. Well guess what, girlfriend??? I'd like a house now. And I'd like to be rich. And I'd like my husband to never have to work again. And I'd like to go on vacation 4 times a year. And I'd like it NOW. But that is unrealistic. We all have wants and we'd all like things RIGHT NOW. But we bust our butts to EARN the things we want so badly. And if it means we can't have it RIGHT NOW, then so be it. That's life. It's that much sweeter once it's ours and once we've worked hard for it. If I didn't pay my electric bill, my lights would go out. If I didn't pay my mortgage, I'd get yanked from my house. So why do people think it's logical that we all pitch in against our own will, to pay for everyone else's irresponsible actions instead of sending them back to their country of origin? Next time I have a bill, I'll send it to those willing to pay for everyone else. Living for free sounds nice.
4. Derek was at Wal-Mart in the check out line a while back when the person in front of him whipped out their Food Stamp cards. Suddenly, this person's phone rang and guess what? It happened to be an iPhone! Does anyone know how much those actually cost? And how much the plans themselves cost AFTER you've purchased the expensive phone? Derek and I wouldn't buy one of those because of the cost…but we pay for our own groceries. These people are working the system. Yes, there may be loopholes. And yes, we do have programs that attract people here and yes, we also pay less attention to these issues than we should. But these programs are here to help the people that need them most! And you'd think that if you were a decent human being, you'd have the common sense and courtesy to not steal from the government and not steal from people less fortunate than you by partaking of the health benefits you AREN'T entitled to. And by using food stamps to buy ALCOHOL. Another thing I hate about illegals, and about the Mexican culture in general is that not all, but MOST feel like they are entitled to everything. Well, I'm ENTITLED to your tax money. I'm ENTITLED to live here. Entitled, entitled, entitled. Why in the world do you think you're entitled? Who fed you this crap? You don't even belong here!!!! Mexico wouldn't give me a dime if I asked nicely for it! And yet you come here and steal from us and feel like it's your RIGHT? The system needs revamping. And yet when we try, people call us the bad guys. Why? Because we're trying to protect our own people? It's equivalent to me saying that my criminal neighbors aren't allowed to barge through my back gate and hang out in my pool whenever they want and then the whole city get mad at me for being prejudiced against criminals. Isn't that the same? If I want to protect my family, I'll make sure that people that aren't supposed to be on my property, aren't! America is private property (thus the borders), and we are an American family. Let's protect each other, not hurt each other by letting in anyone and everyone that shouldn't be here!
5. People from Chihuahua swarm our streets like flies. They cross the border to shop here at places like Wal-Mart and Costco, even though they have their own stores. (Apparently their stores are more expensive over there. And yet, they drive their Escalades over here.) When they go back to Mexico with their goods, they'll get taxed on any new items in boxes. So guess what they do??? They take their vacuums and microwaves and whatever else out of their boxes and LEAVE THE BOXES IN THE PARKING LOT. Oh, heaven forbid you actually throw away your own trash. My friend worked at Wal-Mart a while back and said that the parking lots are so full of trash at Christmastime that you can't even drive through it. And because this is an issue, there is a new billboard up by the Cielo Vista Mall on the Eastside that says, "Texas is not your trashcan". Thank you!!!! However, I think this is the one billboard that should be printed in Spanish, because we English-speaking Americans don't do this!
6. One last thing here. I get so tired of people calling American's like myself (who see this situation as I do) racist. The United States shares a border with only two places- Canada and Mexico. Whether it's happened or not, I have never once heard of a Border Patrol agent getting shot by a Canadian with a machine gun, trying to book it for Montana. As far as I'm concerned, Canadians don't cause us problems. I saw a news clip that said that 30% of all prisoners are illegal immigrants. Are you kidding me?!?! Anyways, the people down south are not bad people. They're some of the sweetest people alive. However, those illegals causing problems in our country today and especially in the southwest, are from Mexico. That's just how it is. So call us racist, but they're the only illegals causing problems here. And the only ones hopping fences, trying to kill the American people. Any other immigrant (like from Germany, Switzerland, France…etc.) need to FLY here, or take a boat- in which case they'll need to show their passport, their documents, etc. It's a lot more complicated for those people, a lot more expensive and a lot more risky. It's also a lot easier to get caught and sent back home. So they do it right, because they have no fences to hop and no rivers to swim across. And like I always say- illegal is not a race. I'm also tired of American Hispanics getting angry about this situation. You're HISPANIC, not Mexican. Nobody is targeting you because you're tan. I'M TAN. I often get mistaken for a hispanic or a Mexican. But hispanic and Mexican are not the same. Mexican= from Mexico. Hispanics could be from anywhere, it's an ethnicity, not a place. And besides, if I'm being called racist, then so are a thousand hispanics here from El Paso. They get angry that people from Mexico come here, don't speak English, commit crimes and mooch off of people. They say it makes them look bad as a whole. And if I were hispanic or an immigrant of another country- I'd be even more fired up about this issue because of people who damage my reputation.
