Second Thoughts

For a few weeks now, one of my favorite families in Saltillo have started jumping through the hoops to get them moved to the US sometime in the next year. For quite awhile, I've been quite happy living in Mexico. But now, talking with my friend, I sometimes think, "man, _____ would sure be nice, if we lived in the US." Or, "if we lived in the US we could do ________."

I'm starting to get the itch to move. And the US was sounding real good. Until yesterday.

Do I really want to move back to a country that is so very against immigration that they refuse to let smart, hardworking young people (who have lived in this country longer than they've lived in their country of origin) even begin the process to become citizens? Do I want to live in a country that refuses to let openly gay people protect that country in the armed forces?

These weren't radical bills, people. Why on earth did they not pass?

Or, why were these two very hot issues lumped together in the same piece of legislation? I am trying to understand why the overall issues are so hotly contested, but these particular bills? Again, they weren't exactly radical. They seemed like no-brainers to me.

But obviously not to the majority of the population.

It's time to figure out what's going on. For the life of me, I can't figure out what is so very terrifying about about these 18-year-old immigrants or gay soldiers. They're out there. They exist. They're already part of our country (and a very important part, too). Why are they not allowed to live their lives out in the open like the rest of us?

I can't explain how disappointed I am.

Clearly, plenty of you do have some very strong objections to this. So let's talk. I'm not going to change your mind and you won't change mine, but let's at least try to figure out where we're coming from.

We can't go on like this.