You are not getting the education you paid for and your overall experience is being diminished. Now of course there are advantages to all these people just showing up. There are more people around to study with (or copy off of). With more students you might find some who will end up being the new (and possibly a great) Student Body president. And of course with so many people, they bring a lot of new ideas and experiences to share with all of the other students. But do those things balance out waiting in line for 46 minutes to get in the shower just to find out that all of the hot water is gone? Or having to stand in the back of the class and try to read to read notes on the chalk board 50ft away when you should be in a cozy seat reading off the projector that your school can no longer afford because of the overflow. What is the solution? Your school can offer an admissions process to some of the people sneaking on however many will be put on a waiting list and some might not be accepted for some time. They could offer financial aid to some but how would there choose who to help and who not to help?
Looking at in a bubble that would directly impact our money, our recourses and of course our ability to secure a job and job stability, it feels a little different.

Obviously there are a lot of problems in our country but when it comes down to it, we live in the greatest country in the world and you can’t blame people for wanting a piece of it. But people have to understand things are different then they were 300 years ago. The US was new with so much room to grow. There were billions and billions of acres of unsettled land and people came with the understanding that they we (in many ways) on their own to make a life. When my great-grandparents came over, the government wasn’t expected to lend support and provide resources like welfare and Medicaid. And if the established immigrants at the time were told they had to pay money to the gov’t to help the new immigrants get established, there would have been anarchy.

I know we have it good in this country. Personally, I feel like everyone should get to experience that, but there are proper channels. I like Obama’s thinking of making it tougher to cross the border but easier for those who are utilizing the proper channels.

One last point (and this is completely unfounded, just a thought): with the government spending so much money and resources controlling the border and providing resources and assistance to the illegal’s in the country, you have to believe that that is going to slowdown the acceptance of new LEGAL immigrants into the country. Meaning that people who have been trying for years to escape their terrorist or communist regime on the other side of the world to make a better life are being denied to at least slowed because of the millions who refuse to do it the right way. Aren’t immigrants from other countries just as important? By getting a handle on the illegal’s from one county we can offer a better opportunity to people experiencing hardship all over the world.

It was interesting to see that my half-Mexican friend’s Facebook wall was bombarded yesterday with “Happy Cinco de Mayo, man”, “Hey, have a great holiday” and then some other semi-degrading “jokes”. I don’t know how he feels about it, but I felt my blood boiling for some reason. It just seemed ignorant.

Great post, Kevin.

Amanda – I get what you’re saying, and my response is much better summed up as Rob’s second point. As a country we really are too eager to sit on the sidelines with this sort of thing and then pay lip service to it.

Ed – It’s a problem there. There’s a lot of problems in Mexico, as a matter of fact, that need to be addressed; many of which force illegals here in the first place. But how, exactly, is it an argument? I honestly don’t see how that should impact anyone’s stance on this law. I do hold America to a higher standard than the rest of the world, because the country always has and always will demand it. We have a moral obligation to ourselves and the rest of the world to stand at the forefront of freedom and basic human rights, and not just pay lip service to it. And, I’ll be honest, I’m really bothered by folks like Malkin who are so in love with their own punditry they won’t take a stand for it but will still take a stand against those in opposition to it just for the sake of being contrarian. Mexico does a lot of things wrong. That doesn’t mean we should allow Arizona to do so.

Amanda’s point is interesting, and related to that I found a blog post that seconds her assessment, and then some:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laplaza/2010/05/cinco-de-mayo.html

However, there’s something distasteful about people in the US embracing this date while keeping Mexicans at arm’s length. Yes, raise a glass to Cinco de Mayo — and then send your dirty dishes to the guy from Juarez toiling in the kitchen.

Really?!? I’m pretty sure any member of my family, in the generations they’ve (legally) been in this country, has never sang any songs about cutting fences or thrown any “Happy Border Crossing” parties. Also, I think you would mean Mexican-American culture, seeing as how Mexicans generally still live in Mexico.

I’m guessing (hoping) you didn’t really mean this the way it comes across.