schweblog

“Responsibility does not only lie with the leaders of our countries or with those who have been appointed or elected to do a particular job. It lies with each of us individually.”
-The Dalai Lama

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve inevitably heard about the nation-wide protests led by immigrants that are going on today. Thousands of people–some legal citizens, others not–are leaving work to spend the day to protest proposed legislation that would make illegitimate citizenship status a crime in our country. In addition, several of them are buying nothing to emphasize their role in the functioning of our country. Of all the coverage and opinions that I’ve heard on the issue, there’s a single point that isn’t being made. And it really does need to be made.

When was the last time you protested against something you strongly disagreed with? When was the last time you took off of work, denied yourself the luxury of consumer goods, or took a little bit of your free time to tell your government what you want? Even if you have personally, the glaring truth of the matter is that very few Americans–legal “citizens”, mind you–have not. Ever. In a nation where the president’s approval rating is abysmally low and there seems to be an almost universal objection to at least parts of the PATRIOT Act, you would think that civic action would be a slightly more popular activity.

Regardless of what side of the immigration fence you’re on, you have to admit that these people are more deserving of American citizenship than a huge number of our legal “citizens”. They’re practicing their fundamental right to peaceably assemble and speak freely, at a financial loss to themselves, and–sadly–this is a truly profound and revolutionary act in the United States today. They were not born here (the source of most people’s citizenship) and they are doing more than expecting citizenship by the very nature of their being here. They are earning their right to remain here as citizens.

If it was up to me, I’d be out in the streets today with these people, handing out citizenship to anyone and everyone that had a clean criminal record (in spite of the stereotypes, this is a huge percentage of the illegal immigrant community). They’ve shown themselves to be more deserving of the protections, rights, and liberties offered by this country than the citizens themselves. They care about the direction of this country and they are willing to take action to do something about it. They deserve more than applause. They deserve citizenship.