Marcela Garcia, a frequent Boston Globe contributor, has an article in today’s Boston Globe where she notes that Chelsea has welcomed new immigrants into their city and school system whether they are legal or illegal. This she believes should be the right posture of cities receiving these immigrants.
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I certainly appreciate her report on how Chelsea is dealing with the influx of illegal children into their school system. It is a story that should be told. However, it would have been informative if she had been more forthright with the facts in explaining some of the information in her report. I understand that she and the Boston Globe have a bias and “points-of-view” that they consistently integrate in stories like this. But I do believe that their readers deserve more than part of the story.
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Before, I point out the following issues I have with her story, I want to state that I am for immigration, legal immigration, since we are a “country of laws” applied equally, that distinguish us from most other countries in the world. Both of my great grandparents were immigrants from different countries and it has taken our families two generations to ascend into middle class, not an unusual happening. I see great value for this country to allow immigration to continue in a controlled manner commensurate with our laws established by the constitution and laws passed by our congress. The spirit of 1776, our declaration of independence from Great Britain, was itself an immigration spirit. So, I get it about the need and strength of immigration to a nation such as ours.
What is happening at our southern border is not what I believe that Ms. Garcia or the Boston Globe would agree with – the unstoppable flow of illegal immigrants, most of them teenagers - most of them without their families. We can argue about the cause, and certainly there are many reasons for this, most of these reasons being lack of border control, lack of will, and lack of applying existing laws. Our elected officials have let us down and there is no excuse for this because it makes us susceptible to potential dangers including influx of criminals/terrorists, disease, uneducated/unemployable people, etc.
Getting back to the Chelsea situation:
First, unlike the instance mentioned in Ms. Garcia’s article concerning the Republican Governor from Nebraska and Oklahoma Governor complaining about the sudden influx of illegal children into their states, it should have been noted that neither of these governors were told in advance by the federal government officials that this was being done and allow them time to prepare for this sudden influx. Certainly, Chelsea has seen an increase over the past year or more and obviously had much more time to prepare. This fact she did not note this in her article. Also her article did not note that other Mayors in Massachusetts, such as the Lynn Mayor, objected to the influx of illegal immigrant children into his city with a lack of advance notice. In fact, it’s been recently reported in newspapers that officials from 100’s of cities throughout the United States are complaining about this influx of illegal children.
Second, Chelsea, unlike most every other urban public school in Massachusetts and the country, was so poorly run previously, that it was put under state receivership, which it is still under. This is an important fact, since a majority of its school money comes from federal and state contributions unlike other schools. Therefore it is far easier for them to get extra money for their needs than other public schools. An example of this is the great school building boon in Chelsea over the past 5-10 years. Their schools are all new with high-tech resources and plenty of human resources available. Even with these resources available, the Superintendent of schools in Chelsea admits that if the influx continues, they will need more money and resources, an example of how stressful the flow of illegal immigrants is having even on well-funded schools systems! Should this demonstrate a potential successful outcome for school systems and students? Assuredly not – and that is why something needs to be done soon to prevent a complete collapse of the educational system and budgets for those cities accepting these kids. This is not what we mean by positive immigration that we all accept as being good for this country! This is lawlessness at its worse and a wanton disrespect for our laws.
Third, Ms. Garcia gave an example of how several of these recent illegal immigrant students in Chelsea were shown great consideration by the school system in getting them immersed into the school system. They didn’t worry about their legal status which is both commendable and exemplary. But again, it should have been pointed out that Chelsea stands out as being an exceptional school system given its added federal and state resources available to them unlike most other school systems receiving these immigrant children.
None of my points above will likely change her mind about the slant of her article in today’s Boston Globe; however, it will be voters like me who will eventually vote for political representatives who will address this fiasco that currently exists at our southern border. And these solutions must include a respect for our laws, and a demonstration that the kind of America we want, will continue to be a “melting pot” for all those who legally want to be part of this great political experiment.
