Freedom Under Fire: A Village Voice Media Special Report

I can certainly agree with most of your sentiments, Diligent. The only piece I take exception to is the statement that they should have no rights. Yes, under the constitution they have rights to due process, which many of our own travelers enjoy in other parts of the world. Once they are deemed to be here illegally by that due process, THEN we need to hammer not just them but whomever gave them aid and comfort, such as the many businesses. For every illegal I'm willing to bet there are at least two other legals that harbor them. The employers, as previously mentioned, whether a large corporation or those that higher out to have their lawns cut. Our own citizens that make cash transporting. Our own complicit politicians that allow the issue to divide us. The list goes on and on and on...

I do not care what people say if the Mexican's are here illegally then they should have no rights, but we kiss their asses instead of getting rid of them. It is no wonder this country is falling apart, we will not take care of our own people, but we do everything for the Mexican's. Enjoy the country while you can cause it is going to be under some other Government soon and you the people have let it happen.

Measy, you give only sparing accuracies to try and make your cause seem to be in the right. You make a case that part of your heritage is spanish and this means... what exactly? I'm of Native American descent as well as of one of the immigrant classes that you threw around. So my Native American ancestry trumps you by tens of thousands of years. This means.... what exactly? The past is to be learnt from, but should still be regulated to the past. A large majority of those immigrants that you so easily speak of came here with a vision of becoming a part of the American experiment. The ones that you know coddle have only a wish to bring in their own troubles and not to become part of the American fabric, Sharia Law as an example.

Wow measy. They have never been documented if they are UNdocumented. That means that they broke the laws of the United States of America. They are illegally here. Everyone has to show an I.D. when pulled over or when asked by the police. No exception. It's not harassment. 90% of the time that I drive through Tennessee, I get pulled over and asked if they can search my vehicle. It's because I have TX plates I know. I don't mind. Keep it legal.

What part of being here legally do you not understand. Everyone is missing the point.

stupid monkeys if you're here illeagel then good riddance, you're a drain on our economy and workforce, if you're here legally, then you have nothing to worry about as long as you avoid criminal activities and the perpetrators!

Why didn't you mention the Native Americans. They have been mistreated by all. We have a fit because Native American are opening cassinos. But anyone else puts one up its ok.Face it we are a land of fakes.

you people are all stupid rethuglicans want everyone who isnt a millionaire deported it's class war not color war

Thank you for your recent your recent report “Crossing the Line.” It draws attention to important issues largely given, at best, cursory treatment by the mainstream media. I have mixture of Mexican and Anglo ancestry. My Spanish ancestors settled on land grants on both sides of the Rio Grande River in the 1720’s, and my earliest Anglo ancestors came here in the 1800’s. I am very proud of both sides of my heritage. I find it very strange that the descendants of Irish, Italian, Eastern European, and other immigrants, relatively recent arrivals compared to my Spanish ancestors, have forgotten that there was time when many Americans thought that their people were lazy criminals who should be deported. Many of their ancestors also came here illegally or at time when it was far easier to immigrate here legally. In the neighborhood where I live, South Irving, Hispanic immigrants have done far more to improve our area than the failed South Irving redevelopment scheme, which has mostly produced weed-filled empty lots. I am perfectly happy to see hard-working people, undocumented or otherwise, move in to my neighborhood, fix up run-down houses, work hard, send their kids to school, and start new businesses. It deeply saddens me to think of them being sent to abusive for-profit detention centers before being deported. I would much prefer that Irving police officers spend their time chasing after thieves, murderers, and rapists, instead of checking the immigration status of every Hispanic person that they book in to the city jail. President Kennedy wrote about the value of immigrants to American society in “A Nation of Immigrants.” President Johnson, long before fighting for the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts as President, chose to teach a small Mexican school in South Texas. As a white teacher, he could have chosen to teach at better funded white school. It is sad that our current President and the Democratic Party in general has strayed so far from their examples. I have been horrified to see the rights of my Latino neighbors, as well as the rights of Muslims, people of Middle Eastern origin, and protestors trampled on by a President that I mistakenly voted for. Meanwhile, the Bush era torturers and Wall Street fraudsters walk free.

where are the John Wiley Price articles? DMN is whippin' your behind on this.