Recent Encounter with a Mexican Illegal

I've been wanting to do a blog post on this for a couple of weeks now, though I'm just now getting around to it.

I know several illegal immigrants in my area. Some of them I like, others I don't care much for. I've seen them come and I've seen them go. Several of those that I know personally, who work in my profession, I've loaned my tools, taken time out of my schedule to instruct them on how to do a job properly, and so on and so forth...

But there's one Mexican illegal I know who lives in my area, and has lived here for at least four or five years, if memory serves, and who also works in my profession, which is how I came to know him. He is a young guy, in his mid to late twenties, married with two children last I knew.

Though I knew he was still around, I had not seen this individual in probably six months or more until just a couple of weeks ago. I was in the local Lowes store picking up supplies for a job we were on when this individual tapped me on the shoulder. When I turned around to see who it was, we shook hands and began a nice five to ten minute conversation wherein we discussed the well-being of our families, our work, and this and that. We parted company expressing to one-another how genuinely happy we were to know that the other was getting along well.

This is an individual that I genuinely like, and it seems that the feeling is mutual. And once I got back to the job site I shared with my employees (who also know and like this individual) that we'd run into one-another at Lowes. Then we got into the inevitable conversation about Oklahoma's new immigration laws and how this would affect our friend. But the conclusion that we came to was that we seem to be faced with an all-or-none proposition here. And if that's the choice, then I have to go with the latter. The former is simply unthinkable because it is suicidal.

In short, I think my Mexican friend is the exception, not the rule. Indeed, given the number of Mexican illegals I've encountered in my area over the last several years, I'd say he is the extreme exception to the rule. And as much as I'd like to keep him, or to trade him for ten, twenty, or even a hundred native scumbags, my exceptional friend cannot be the determinant as to Oklahoma's internal immigration policy, nor to my view of that policy. He's not a citizen of my State, nor of the United States. And until he becomes one legally, he has no rights under our constitution and laws.

At times I may come across as being a heartless individual as concerns immigrants, which is not the case at all. I have a heart for these people and their plight, and I certainly wish them no ill will. It is also very fresh to my memory where I came from, which cannot be said to be "priveleged" in any sense of the term. On the other hand, I cannot allow my emotions to run wild with me, and to control my thinking on this or any other subject as the liberals do.

I wish my friend the best of luck once Oklahoma's immigration law takes effect in November. I hope he'll apply for citizenship through the proper channels. And hopefully Providence will smile upon him for it.