"This Is Our Land": Commentary On Hyper-territorialism

In recent binge viewing of political commentary from the Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN Television stations, I have come to be quite disgusted with much of the back and forth that plagues our conversations, especially now that we’re nearing the midterm elections. Even more so than that, is the close-mindedness that keeps commentary (on both sides) so narrow that I often can’t navigate the path of reasoning to logistically understand their position. Indicative of this phenomenon is a display of narrowness shown by Jim Rutledge, a Maryland senatorial candidate, who in an interview with Conservative Right-leaning media source PJTV, said the following: “The people [of Maryland] are being burdened by the illegals. There are teachers that can’t even teach their lessons for having to take time out for students who don’t know how to speak English…” This sort of dismissive, hyper-territorial, “this is our land” attitude bothers me. Our nation was built upon the pursuit of happiness, as guided by the escape of social and religious persecution our colonial ancestors sought and fought for. Isn’t that what America is about? We are, after all the land of the free. Have we become so close-minded and within our own right that we are content with leaving those who seek the “American dream” just as we’ve had a chance to, behind at the expense of our political and social conservations? It’s time to straighten our posture and set out toward the attitudinal shift that will bring our country to a place I only dream of seeing in my lifetime.

It rattles my core that there is legislation in this country which literally okays the persecution of those that “look like” illegal immigrants, that has made it as far as it did. This means that there are people in power (in Arizona) that actually believe racial profiling is an acceptable and constitutional means of securing our border and combating the problem of illegal immigration. Now please don’t mistake my fervor for inclusion for the hyper-sensitive fluff that too often dominates the conversation (when it’s not finger-pointing, name-calling, and blame-gaming). I too squirm at the thought of weak border security, so in that right I am in support of strengthening our national defense, but I don’t believe achieving that means kicking out all foreigners, especially those that have established a life here. I’m a strong believer in the necessity to secure our borders and hold illegal immigrants accountable for their pursuits, but there is a way to do that that goes in accordance with our founding principles. What’s this method I so allusively speak of, you ask? Well let’s adapt a program that makes attaining citizenship a feat not so seemingly insurmountable. Illegal immigrants are literally help keep our economy afloat by keeping labor costs low and taking jobs that so often were not adequately filled by Americans. Let’s help those that are helping us behind the scenes.