The Workday Liberal

The AP has a report on the problems faced by the immigrant family members of service members who are fighting in Iraq.

The thought of the men and women serving in Iraq who daily risk their lives while having to fret and worry about having a loved being deported frankly riles me up. Simply based upon the need to keep our service members mentally focused and able to concentrate on their own and their comrades survival, this nation ought to grant automatic citizenship to these service members and to their spouses. I really wonder why there is even a debate about this.

But one paragraph of the story just has me entirely mystified. That paragraph reads:

Supporters of tighter immigration controls say giving the relatives of service members a free pass would only create an incentive for immigrants to enlist to legalize undocumented family members. They also oppose narrow solutions addressed at individual cases like that of Yaderlin Jimenez.

Erm... yeah... giving family members a break would create an incentive for immigrants to enlist. Is there a problem with that? Are these "supporters of tighter immigration controls" human beings or interstellar space aliens from planet Dunderhead?! I mean seriously... being all hostile to illegal immigrants is bad enough, but when you let that color your view of the families of the men and women fighting for America you have got a major psychological problem from my point of view. Not only should we give the family of military members a break... we should be freaking happy to do it. In fact that should be a great recruitment tool for filling the ranks of our overstretched military. Maybe then we could break up some of these repeated fourteen month rotations.

And exactly what is wrong with "only giving immigrants an incentive to enlist"?! I mean thats like saying that if I were to find a million dollars I would "only" buy a house and live happily ever after. This is yet another instance in which I don't get the mindset I suppose. To me the use of the word "only" in the context it's used in is just strange.

The particular case mentioned in that paragraph is very instructive of the absolute heartlessness of these "supporters of tighter immigration controls". I previously wrote a post on this case, but here is a brief recap. Yaderlin Jimenez illegally entered the states from the Dominican Republic in 2001. In 2004 she married Alex Jimenez who in turn joined the military and was sent to Iraq. He petitioned to have her status legalized while in Iraq which caused her to come to the attention of immigration officials, who promptly started trying to deport her.

Alex was a member of the team of five soldiers who were attacked in Iraq, resulting in two of his teams members being killed outright, with the remaining three being captured. One of those captured was later found dead near the Tigris river. Alex is still missing in Iraq.

The "supporters of tighter immigration controls" think it is somehow wrong for the government to cut this missing soldiers wife a break! I mean how absolutely heartless and inhuman... unpatriotic and downright wrong headed can you possibly be? How much do you have to hate illegal immigrants to hold a position against providing "narrow solutions addressed at individual cases like that of Yaderlin Jimenez" whose husband is being held prisoner in Iraq, unless he's already been tortured to death. These cads would like to see her already unimaginable grief and trouble added to by having Yaderlin deported. They want to literally add insult to injury for the spouse of a missing soldier. I think these immigration nazi's are pathetic actually!

Do you see why that type of thinking mystifies me? I mean am I alone on this? I can not begin to comprehend the depths of hatred and absolute inhumanity it would take to know the story of Yaderlin and not wish for her to have the best life she can have in the nation her husband has possibly given the last measure of devotion to. Seriously... I can't even begin to imagine the mindset of someone that would like to have Yaderlin deported at this stage of her life. For these "supporters of tighter immigration controls" I have one word: Shame!