I finished another book today; The Tortilla Curtain by T. C. Boyle. It was about two couples, an American couple, liberal and well off, and an illegal couple newly crossed over the border into the US from Mexico. The story does a good job of presenting both couples as human beings with aspirations and dreams, both very similar in that they want a home and jobs and a life of some value.
The Mexican couple, Candido and America Rincon are utterly without possessions or resources but they still have hopes and dreams. The American couple, Delaney and Kyra Mossbacher also have dreams and they want the life they have built to continue unmolested.
The book shows us both sides of the immigration problem in the US and does a good job of not taking sides. Both couples are sympathetic and I felt for the plights of both.
I feel that same ambivalence toward illegal aliens in the U.S. If I lived in a place where there were no jobs, no sanitation, no order or police protection, no hope, wouldn't I want to go somewhere else.....somewhere that promised all those things and more? But I am American and I want my own country to remain safe and productive. I want to be able to have a job and feel safe in my home. We should be able to solve this problem; if only the politicians would get out of the way. I believe that common sense and compassion would then prevail.
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