Making immigration work

I was going through some old papers the other day and found this excerpt from a book that was in the Charlotte Observer (the excerpt I mean)...now I remember why I'd kept it! It's written by Sergio Troncoso, author of "The Last Tortilla and Other Stories." Here goes:

"The issue of helping poor Latin American immigrants in the United States is not a 'minority issue'. It's an American issue, in the best sense of that term...Unlike the episodic waves of Irish, Italian, and Jewish immigrants, Latin American immigrants to the United States will be a constant and significant stream into this country. Forever. We share a 2,000-mile border with Mexico, and 500 million (probably higher, since this was published in 2001) Latin Americans live south of that border. You can run away from these realities, or you can rage against them drunk with hate, or you can try to make it work, for all of us. What do you think is the best choice?"

Those of you who know me know that I'm very pro-immigrant, and I have a special place in my heart for Latin American immigrants. This country is starting to scare me with our politicians' talk of building a wall the entire length of the US-Mexico border, taking citizenship away from US-born children of undocumented immigrants, and not giving drivers' licenses to folks who don't have a social security number. This sounds less and less like Emma Lazarus (Give me your tired, your poor....) and more like oh, East Berlin. Fine if they want to send all the "illegal aliens" (hate that phrase) back to their countries of origin. (This, by the way, would include numerous Canadians, Germans, Italians, Swedes, etc.) Should you choose to do that, however, you can count on agriculture, construction, and numerous other high-risk low-paying economic sectors to collapse. Which would mean no apples, oranges, strawberries, tomatoes, or any other fruit/veggies. No one to see that the chickens are processed so we can eat meat. No one to make sure the cows get milked. And no new homes for us white middle and upper classes.

This may sound a little like a soapbox and it probably is. I just have a real big issue with people who talk about immigrants like they are dirt while enjoying the fruits of those very same immigrants. What about in Leviticus, where God says "Do not mistreat the alien living among you. Remember that you were once aliens in Egypt." I hope I am not the only person in this country who feels that way. Thoughts? Disagreements?