HOUSTON’S NEW OFFICIAL MESSAGE TO IMMIGRANTS: WELCOME, Y’ALL! 
Long derided by some illegal-immigration opponents as a “Sanctuary City,” Houston appears now to be rebranding itself to suit. The city’s Office of International Communities, along with 2 area nonprofits, are joining to label Houston an official “Welcoming City†for immigrants and refugees, focused on welcoming and integrating new Americans. In joining the nationwide Welcoming Cities and Counties initiative, Houston is joining such hotbeds of newcomer friendliness as Boise, Idaho; Crete, Nebraska, Salt Lake County, Utah; Dayton, Ohio; and Memphis, Tennessee (not to mention Austin, LA, NYC, Chicago, and other likely suspects). Participating community groups intend to create a plan for Houston to “improve the lives of immigrants moving to Houston” and present it to Mayor Turner in November. [City of Houston; Welcoming America] Photo of sign in Chile: Pipe Loyola M
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I think the immigration activists are deliberately and maliciously conflating the issue of Immigrant and Illegal immigrant. Nobody is opposed to lawful immigrants, my wife is an immigrant, it’s the illegal immigration that is an insult to our sovereignty and sanctity of law. I believe the debate about illegal immigration should stop at the word ‘illegal’.
What happened to the slogan from the late 1970s I saw as a child living in Houston? I remember the bumper stickers reading Welcome to Texas now go back and Welcome to Texas now go home.
No human being should be labeled illegal, just as no human being ought to be labeled an Untermensch. That’s not a matter of common sense, or of facts, or of superior logical reasoning, for that matter. It’s a matter of basic values that home sapiens is capable of espousing and acting upon, whether grounded in religion or humanism of the secular kind. What’s malicious about according people that don’t belong to one’s own tribe respect as humans too? Where is the evil motive here?
I agree with you commonsense… the problem is that Political Correctness has eliminated the word “illegal” from the vocabulary. My mother immigrated here with her family from Mexico in the 50’s. My grandfather was a CPA, and owned a trucking company and wanted to move it to El Paso. So they came to the border, lived in Ciudad Juarez and waited six months for all the paperwork to be processed, then came over.
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My wife’s family immigrated from Spain, and in the 80’s, they had to wait 3 years to get a visa to come over. I don’t think anyone has a problem with this form of immigration, it is the ILLEGAL immigration they have a problem with.
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Clint Eastwood said it best recently in his interview with Esquire… we live in “Pussy Generation”. I agree. Political Correctness is dangerous, and ruining this, and all other countries that practice it.
Great, illegal immigration is bad! We all agree! So let’s make immigration as accessible and inexpensive as it was when our ancestors came here. My grandparents bought a boat ticket, got checked for communicable diseases at Ellis Island, had their paperwork processed, and bam were legal U.S. citizens. So if we’re gonna talk the talk about our problems with illegal immigration, let’s actually walk the walk and eliminate the many years and thousands of dollars our legal barriers currently impose on would-be legal immigrants to this country.
Pussy Generation? Isn’t every generation a pussy generation, short of genesis via artificial insemination or blastocyst insertion by an alternative route (if such is feasible) followed by cesarean section? So, now we are demeaning mothers in addition to denouncing so-called illegals in the name of fighting the good fight against political correctness that will destroy all legals. — What’s next?
If we have such a huge problem with illegal immigration then why are we still handing out tons of temporary visas for low pay labor knowing full well a small minority of them will intentionally overstay their visa?
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The reason some have mobilized in support of illegals is because it’s kind of dumb to punish a child because their parents didn’t follow the rules. Also dumb to kick them out of the country after spending years paying for their health and education. You’re welcome to try and sort out who should and shouldn’t be punished, just obviously a laughable waste of money.
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But yes, there’s a clear distinction between legal and illegal for good reason. Everyone has bills to pay.
@ser humano, you can take that logic further and say we are all atoms, how can one carbon atom be different from another? In the real world people are different, tribes are different, resources are finite, it is only natural to establish law and order for survival and benefit of one’s tribe. Secondly, illegal means someone broke the law willingly, you don’t get a pass on that.
If someone breaks into your house, eats your pizza, and orders pay per view, is he a misunderstood human being deserving your unconditional welcome or someone to be hauled away in handcuffs and spend time in the pokey?
@commonsense aren’t you in the real estate/construction/etc industry? Pretty funny hearing you complain about illegal immigration seeing as your industry is notorious for violating those labor laws by hiring illegals to do cheap construction (5% of all workers are illegal, 25% of construction workers are illegal). And don’t think that just because your contractors/subcontractors are doing it that excuses you. You don’t get to turn a profit on illegal immigration and then talk like its a problem you really want fixed or have any moral high ground on.
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Same goes to the rest of you in the biz. This industry is incredibly corrupt when it comes to labor laws but everyone turns a blind eye/ignores it since contractors give you a bit of distance from it. You guys don’t get to have an opinion on this either way since you so heavily exploit illegal immigration. And none of this “everyone’s doing it we don’t have a choice”. You absolutely do. You just choose to cut corners by hiring illegals through third parties so you can make more money.
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Doing that and then complaining about (or supporting) illegal immigration is just another example of how low the bar is in this industry.
Legal status is a man-made status, not a natural one. It is defined, imposed, and enforced by governments, – a human creation.
The vast majority of denizens on US territory acquire legal status by accident of birth, or — shall we say – by virtue of their mother’s labor. It’s not their doing. It’s not merit-based. The unborn has not earned it. Nor has the newborn selected the coordinates for the special occasion.
No, all atoms are not equal, but all men are, or so the gospel says, and by extension – so are all bundles of joy. Here is a more precise quote, rather than a paraphrase (with one slight update from the original lingo): We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all humans are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That’s the fiction that holds this tribe together – a shared commitment to a few basic ideas. Women are no longer subsumed.
It’s a matter of fundamental ethical principles. The humanistic creed that elevates us above other animals, not to mention atoms.
It’s NOT a matter of fact, of physics, or of common sense.
Or a matter of whether or not Charles Darwin had a point, not to mention a testable theory. What a Paine!
Just more political agenda-based propaganda originating from the White House with the usual “partners”; media/corporate/political, all putting a smile of their stated intentions and telling us how we’re a “nation of immigrants” without mention of the country being a nation of laws at the same time.
So many people are sick of being played as stupid that the eventual backlash reaction, which has begun big time but has not yet peaked, will be strong and swift and these sellouts will be sent scampering away, unless they succeed in legalizing those here illegally and getting them to vote.
@MrEction, of course we use whoever will do the work, it’s not our job to vet them, but my stance is that we as an industry do not really see a financial benefit. If we had all ‘legal’ labor, it would simply raise final home prices for everyone slightly. We still have same exact margins. 6 one way, had dozen the other, as they say.
@ser humano, legal status is not a matter of some abstract mental gumnastics, it’s a matter of law, punishable by our advanced society. What you’re saying is that everyone that breaks into your house deserves to be put on the deed.
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P.S. When “all men are created equal” was written, they meant all white Anglo Saxon Protestant males, so not really a good example.
Commonsense, now you are really out of line! I believe it is ‘six of one, half dozen of the other’. :)
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MontroseResident
Yes, yes, the lack of edit feature has struck even the best of us.
“Grammatik Macht Frei!”
@commmonsense “It’s not our job to vet them”. Other industries actually take responsibility for the actions of their contractors because they understand how wrong this view is. It is absolutely your job to vet the legality of your contractors. Would you vet their insurance? Would you vet their bonding? Would you vet their safe disposal techniques of hazardous waste? Actually for the last I’m guessing the answer is a resounding no. Why is the real estate industry so completely blind to ethics?