In terms of what you say about the Law, ideally it would be so. The Law *should* be the great equalizer. However, our history shows us that laws quite often favor the rich over the poor, whites over people of color, straights over gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender… When it does, it’s our job as people of faith to oppose the law. We can do this by discussion and lobbying, and/or by rallies and marches. The latter are part of our U.S. heritage. The advances of the Civil Rights movement and the hastened end to the Vietnam war were both won in large part by strategic marches and rallies.

Lastly, the vast majority of those who immigrated here “illegally” work very hard in this country for little pay and often under unsafe conditions. For example, over 50% of the farm workers in the U.S. are undocumented. Their cheap labor means that we pay less for fruits and vegetables. We also pay far less than we otherwise would for yard work, hotels, restaurants, construction… In truth, most undocumented workers are not taking advantage of us; we the consumers are taking advantage of them. And because of their undocumented status, they have no recourse if their employer abuses them or refuses to pay them. No one would choose to come into this country illegally to work with no protections unless they were desperate.

Unfortunately, our current immigration system is such that the wait to come here legally can take years, even in some cases decades. When parents have children to feed and cannot find work in their homelands, they cannot wait years to come here for work. When spouses are separated from each other, they cannot wait a decade to be reunited. In the majority of cases, it is unfair to characterize those who enter the country without documentation as “choosing” to break the law, as if they just didn’t care. An “enforcement-only” immigration policy is inhumane. Let us work together to pass comprehensive immigration reform that would allow people to immigrate legally, unite families, and protect all workers.

Laws are writen for the good of ALL people. Law is the great equalizer. A law MUST be followed by the rich and the poor, the Democrat and the Republican, the young and the old, The Jew and the gentile, the white the black and the Brown.

Laws are ment to protect all of us from harm.

Most People follow the laws and those that do not should not be sheltered from their responsabilitys under the law.

It is loving of a parent to teach their children that when you make a choice to follow the laws of you family or your country or your god you will reep the reward of that action.

On the other hand it is Loving of Parents to tech that if you break the laws of family, country or of your god that their will be some kind of punishment.

To let people choose what laws they do and do not want to follow is just wrong in my way of thinking.

I do not break the law and I know many other people that do not break the law and none of us would. If we do not like a law we must truly understand why we do not like the law ( is it for selfish reasons or the good of the community as a whole) if it is not for a selfish reason then we would lobby to change the law. We would lobby with reason and Community benifit on our side, Not with nasty signs and unruley crowds chanting and marching. A calm discussion on the law and how it is benifiting the community at large or how it is hurting the community at large.

Why should anyone follow the laws of this Nation if a privlaged group gets to pick and choose the few laws it wants to follow and those it chooses to disregard?

What about the people that follow the law and do what is right ? Is it fair to make them pay any kind of price for people that choose to break the law ?

The People that are in this country Legaly did the right thing and came her in the correct way and are following our rules and laws. They are an asset to this great countyr of ours.
Those that come and break the law are taking from this country and giving back very little. In fact if you add it all up they take way more then they give.

Why should people that break the law benifit from their crime when there are good honest people waiting to get in that have followed the rules ? No one should benifit from a life of crime.

please help me to understand how you feel it is ok to protect and protest for people that break the law and to not be protecting and protesting for those that follow the law ?

Sincerely,
Mary E. Decker
decker830@pure.net

Emily
UUCP member and ULC minister

Emily
UUCP member and ULC minister

Please email me with the source of the following quote from your article:

“On July 29th, the day SB 1070 goes into effect, Maricopa County law enforcement has announced major sweeps and raids to implement the law”

Thank you,
Paula Linn, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia