“ILLEGAL is still ILLEGAL!” – “Rules are rules!” – “We are a nation of laws!” I noticed that the reactions to my Immigration piece yesterday were overwhelmingly positive, and for this, I thank you. You are all such a lovely and, above all, compassionate bunch. As was expected, there were of course also some “Rules are rules!” and “We are a nation of laws!” and “ILLEGAL is still ILLEGAL!” reactions. To those I’d like to point out the following, because, guess what? I agree. Let me repeat, I agree! If you remember, I also asked you to tell me something I don’t know. Please continue reading. This really needs to be addressed.

Someone, asked, "If they’re illegal, how did they obtain Social Security cards and jobs? So how can they be undocumented?"

First of all, there is no need for a Social Security card to get a job. Second of all, to pay taxes, many have obtained what's known as an "Individual Taxpayer Identification Number" (ITIN) with which the majority of undocumented workers already pay taxes.

Third, and this is the most important, most ignored FACT in this entire “Rules are rules!” and “Illegal is still illegal!” argument. Where do you think most undocumented workers get jobs? At U.S. companies run by U.S. employers.

Did you know that according to the U.S. Code of Law it is illegal for U.S. employers to hire undocumented workers? Yes, illegal. It is in Title 8 > Chapter 12 > Subchapter II > Part VIII > Sec. 1324a

http://uscode.house.gov/browse/prelim@title8/chapter12/subchapter2/part8&edition=prelim (scroll to Sec. 1324a and click it)

Oh crap, it’s getting uncomfortable now, isn’t it?

It is the U.S. employers (!) who look the other way, who do not follow U.S. law (!), and in doing so, they pay those undocumented workers a much, much lower wage than minimum wage. And if the undocumented workers pipe up about getting paid more they are threatened with being handed over to the immigration service (ICE).

And guess what? ICE mainly punishes and detains the undocumented workers and not the U.S. employers who broke the law in the first place by not following the clearly defined U.S. hiring laws. Let me repeat, it is illegal for anyone in the U.S. to hire anyone who is undocumented. Yeah, but no one likes to talk about this, either.

It is only in very rare cases that U.S. employers who have hired undocumented workers get fined. And when that happens, it is usually just a slap on the wrist. …and then it’s back to business as usual.

You clamor, rules are rules, huh? Illegal is still illegal, huh? We are a nation of laws, huh? So then where are the enforcement teams that ensure proper U.S. hiring laws? Oh wait, they don’t exist. But yeah, let’s just all continue to be afraid of the boogeyman instead of taking a long, hard look at ourselves in the mirror.

And please spare me the “But they’ve got forged documents!” nonsense. Well, no kidding. I had no idea. Really?! You don’t say! Are we really this childish to argue like this? Most U.S. employers are fully aware that some documents are forged. At this point that’s just being naïve.

Do you know what one of the differences is between being documented and being undocumented? Being documented means, for example, that you are legally required to receive at least minimum wage. THIS is why undocumented workers are hired in the first place. For U.S. employers to save a buck or two. Isn’t that heartwarming?

I’m asking you to please get your facts straight before you scream “Rules are rules!” Yes, I agree, rules ARE rules, and we should start with our own by enforcing the rules for U.S. employers, before descending upon the undocumented population with torches and pitchforks. Stop pouncing on the weak when the first culprit of this humanitarian crisis in the U.S. can be spotted from a hundred miles away in the guise of employers who are taking advantage – yes, advantage - of the undocumented, just to save a buck. To line their pockets. It is the willing U.S. employers hiring the undocumented who are breaking U.S. law in the first place. Question: Will you go and stand at an assembly line and rip the guts out of chickens for 18hrs straight at $5.00 per hour? Didn’t think so.

It is modern-day slavery. Period.

To learn more about ITIN please see http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Individual-Taxpayer-Identification-Number-(ITIN)

And if you still don’t think that the majority of undocumented workers already pay taxes, please read http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/high-school/top-10-myths-about-immigration

PS: As far as the petulant “UNLIKE!” commentaries are concerned, I’m shakin’ in mah lil’ space boots…! For you to “Unlike” me because of my opinion, you clearly didn’t read the whole piece I’ve reposted below because I specifically addressed this issue.

PPS: My gardener, who gets paid through my landlord, is documented.

PPPS: Enjoy your weekend! Have a look in the mirror, too. Find your heart. It's still in there. It's the thing that's ticking when you're alone in the silence.

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Post from last night, Thursday November 20th 2014

I had some fun on Twitter (@Tsoukalos) yesterday, Wednesday, November 19th 2014, because I was/am stoked beyond words to hear what Obama will say tonight about the first steps toward Comprehensive Immigration Reform which is long, long overdue. The reactions and replies were staggering. They ranged from the positive to the indifferent, all the way to the dark side. And by dark, I mean dark. The negative reactions were nothing but vitriolic.

What many don’t know is that I’m infinitely fascinated by the human mind and human behavior. Especially when it comes to topics that can be approached rather rationally. But with some people, it immediately escalates into blind rage. By “escalate” I’m actually being kind because social media has proven that there are certain topics that some people can apparently no longer approach with an unbiased mind. Reason and common sense have gone out the window. Any society – including ours – is nothing but doomed if open discourse and discussion is hampered by people who aren’t willing to even remotely consider evaluating the opinions and ideas of others. Trust me, I should know.

Having said that, anyone who has followed my FB feed for some time knows that, frankly, I don’t care about what the trolls have to say. Quite on the contrary, I enjoy exposing their petulant ignorance. For starters, someone asked, "fuck dude, not you too?" to which I replied, "Yes, me too. 12 million times over, in fact. It's about time the deliberate impasse [on Comprehensive Immigration Reform] is choked."

In the 90s and 80s (and prior) even Republican presidents (Reagan and the first Bush, for example) did something about immigration. Granted, they did it with Congressional approval, however, let’s face it, Congress had more than its fair chance over the past decade to get something passed. How many immigration bills were passed in the Senate (or in the House) only to be scrapped by the House (or the Senate)? Go ahead, look it up. Say what you will, but this was not the state of affairs in the 80s and 90s. It wasn’t constant gridlock. At least people reached across the aisle. Congress is meant to be there to do at least something. And stonewalling is not doing anything. For how many more years will Comprehensive Immigration Reform be pushed back? Another 10 years? 20? To let the undocumented population swell to an even greater number in the process? Why has everyone lost their rational mind about this?

Please do not twist this around on me, the Democrats are as much to blame as the Republicans. I will retype this sentence: The Democrats are as much to blame as the Republicans.

As an immigrant myself (with my great-grandfather arriving in the United States in 1872 and my grandfather in 1906, I came here in 1994) I will never - NEVER - side with the bitter, anti-immigrant crowd. Most only regurgitate the falsehoods of others which I will explain in more detail below.

Have you ever asked yourself why there are so many undocumented people here today? Did they all jump the fence? Actually, 40% did not. Yes, you read that right, 40%. They came here on planes and entered completely legally. Have you ever considered that the reason why there are so many undocumented people here is because the process with which to become documented – even legally - is broken? In fact, the people who continuously scream, "Do it the legal way! Go to the U.S. embassy in your home country and apply there legally and stand at the back of the line!” know little about how LEGAL immigration to the United States actually works.

Did you know that if you’re trying to get a Green Card legally from, let’s say, the Philippines or India, it can take decades? Decades. Are we honestly trying to say that this is right? That we as a people should accept the fact that one has to wait a decade or more for someone’s legal papers to go through so that they can provide a better life for their families or for themselves? I can’t. No wonder people choose the other, undocumented route. Can you blame them? I can’t. Yes, the waiting periods for someone from the Philippines is extreme, however, even if you’re from another country, the waiting period can be, let’s say, 5 years long – which, in my opinion, is 3 years too long. Is our bureaucracy really in such shambles? Yes it is. So it is time for it to be fixed. In this, the 21st century, there is no justification for anyone to wait for more than 2 years for their legal papers to go through. You’d think we’re etching these work permits onto tiny stone tablets and that’s why everything takes so long. And trust me, our ancestors would’ve been embarrassed if it took them 10 years to etch a tiny stone tablet.

What has happened is that too many regurgitate what they’ve picked up in the media – from right-wing or left-wing sources. I condemn both sides. Read this again please, I condemn both sides. What the media masterfully hides from all of us is that the legal immigration process is broken, too. The media is selling us a picture that the undocumented population pretty much only consists of Latinos - and we’ve bought it, hook, line and sinker.

It is a grave mistake to focus on migrants only. But isn’t it convenient to point at someone with brown skin and blame them? Our society has always needed something or, in this case, someONE, to point to in order to justify why they themselves aren’t as successful as they want to be. “Oh, I can’t get a job because of this damn Mexican!” they scream. Must I remind you that one hundred years ago the same sentence existed but it was, for example, “Oh, I can’t get a job because of this damn Italian!”?

Really? So you can’t get a job because of “that damn (insert your least favorite ethnicity here)!”? Have you even tried to get off your couch lately instead of complaining and waiting for a job or an opportunity to fall into your lap? When was the last time you sent out a hundred resumes? Yes, I said a hundred resumes, because that’s what it takes these days. When was the last time you walked from business to business to introduce yourself trying to land a job? *crickets* Thought so. At least you’re honest. We’ve become complacent as a people. Instead of going out there and getting it done – no matter what! – we’d rather sit at home complaining and feeling sorry for ourselves. We’ve become victims of our own vast freedom of choice. We’ve forgotten how good we have it here in the United States – I remind myself of this each and every day I get to live in this magnificent country. What limitless (!) opportunities await just around the corner – if only we took a peek. But moving our heads around the corner is sooooo haaaaaaaaaard, isn’t it?

The arguments then came, “Just ship them all back!” Ok, let’s step back for a moment and think about this rationally. There are 12 million undocumented people already here. They. Are. Already. Here. How on Earth do you propose we’ll send them back? On trains? Oh wait, that rings of something else, doesn’t it? Yeah, let’s not talk about that, because it might send the wrong message to the rest of the world, wouldn’t it? Or, as Romney suggested, “Let them self-deport!” Self -deport?! …and I’ll fly to the Moon with a broom. You can join me! Come! Trust me, it’ll work! Just hold your breath! Why has everyone lost their mind when it comes to addressing the obvious problems with immigration? Illegal AND legal? Please let the following sink in for a moment: The undocumented population is not going to leave. They’re here to stay.

Lest we forget, we are a nation of *gasp!* immigrants. How is this forgotten? And if you think that all of our grand- and great grandparents (and earlier generations) came here “legally” – think again. What is also forgotten is that the laws in reference to legal immigration have changed draconically, and as a result making legal immigration more difficult (and often impossible) than ever before. Nobody mentions this. Everyone thinks that legal immigration is a walk in the park. It isn’t. Far from it, actually. Trust me, I live in Southern California, I know. I've seen the unnecessary heartache, the fear – and above all, the horrid anxiety – it causes people, and worse, families. Families living here AND abroad.

What strikes me the most is that the great majority of people who are against “illegal” immigration also fancy themselves as god-fearing people. Didn’t Jesus teach compassion? Compassion toward the less fortunate and the suppressed? Oh, you don’t like this argument, do you? Wasn’t he preaching his gospel “illegally”? He prevailed, didn’t he? It is amazing that any Jesus-fearing individual can spew such hatred and actually be fine with families being torn apart, especially when they have no criminal background. How is that the people who constantly harp about “family values” become so inconspicuously silent when it comes to hard-working undocumented families being torn apart? Why do they suddenly look to the floor, put their hands in their pockets and kick an empty can down the alley? The hypocrisy is stupendous. And it is sad. Their hearts are dark.

If anyone at this point (thanks for reading this far!) entertains the idea of asking me, “Well, didn’t you come here the legal way?” then you have not understood a single word I’ve just written. Having said that, unfortunately, in this day and age I also have to point out the obvious and state that of course I agree that anyone who’s undocumented with a criminal record must be deported. There’s no question. I actually feel it is redundant for having to mention this because, in my world, that’s a given. Why even bring it up as a point? And yes, everyone should pay a fine. And yes, everyone should go through a background check. And yes, everyone should pay back taxes, if they haven’t already done so. And yes, any criminal must be deported. And yes, border security must be improved (and not just our southern border!). And so on and so forth. Why are these issues even part of the discussion? Again, in my world, they are moot because they are all a given.

Someone stated, “So who pays for all the welfare and free insurance they gonna get? That's right the people that pay taxes.” to which I replied “So undocumented workers don't pay taxes? Get your head out of the sand.” and supplied this link which I urge you to please read http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/high-school/top-10-myths-about-immigration <-- It deconstructs pretty much each and every myth about undocumented immigration.

Some then suggested that Obama already had his chance and should’ve implemented immigration reform during the first 2 years of his presidency when both the Senate and the House were under Democratic control. So why didn’t he do it? Well, let me think. Could it be because Obama already had his hands full with getting health care passed? What a novel thought. How quickly we forget. At the time, the United States was one of the few 1st world countries on the planet that offered no public health care to its citizens. How anyone can be against that is beyond me. Health care is a basic human right. It is as simple as that.

Some commentary became bizarre when someone asked, for example, “Why so we can end up broke like Greece?” to which I replied, “Stop being silly. Greece is broke because of EU rule, not immigration.” …and because Greece had deep problems before they ever joined the EU. Her current problems have nothing to do with immigration. Not primarily, at least. Plus, as a half-Greek I can tell you that a Greek will never think like a German, and being half-Austrian, I can tell you that a German will never think like a Greek. We’re all wired differently. That’s why the EU will never succeed in its current form. I’ve mentioned this before and I’ll mention it again. Every European nation currently in the EU should revert back to their previous currency and all of Europe should retain the current immigration and work permit laws. The current visa policies between European nations should be kept the way they are now. Allowing people to work anywhere they want in Europe without having to jump through extensive bureaucratic hoops is one of the best things that happened in Europe in a long time. By the same token, the introduction of the Euro is, in my opinion, the worst thing that has ever happened to Europe - at least in recent history. But I digress.

The whole “discussion” then became even more bizarre when someone stated, “Many tax laws are "broken" too. Do you suggest we all stop paying taxes?” I don’t even comprehend the comparison or the relevance how this fits into the discussion at hand. Too many people jump all over the place too fast instead of staying focused on what’s being discussed. I replied, “Never. But we do need tax reform. Like immigration reform.” I know that many believe that as Americans you shouldn’t pay taxes. Personally, I disagree with this. As long as a monetary society exists, and we do live in a monetary society, a well-functioning society can only function if money is contributed from all levels of the population (especially the top 1%) in order to fund government programs. You know, the stuff we take for granted, like the Police and Fire Departments, public hospitals, airport towers so our planes don’t crash into each other etc. Things that should just be available to the public BECAUSE.

And to repeat, contrary to common beliefs, many undocumented immigrants are actually paying taxes and contribute to our economy in multiple ways. Please read http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/high-school/top-10-myths-about-immigration

Unfortunately, with the current Congress, on a day with clear blue skies, someone can say "Look guys, it's a clear blue sky!" and most of our elected officials will look up at said blue sky and say "Um no, actually, it's raining." And let me repeat, this applies to both sides of the aisle.

Incidentally, and interestingly enough, yesterday, Wednesday November 19th it was reported that tonight’s speech would not be televised on broadcast television (see here http://bit.ly/1F2BnEo). However, much to my delight, the networks changed their mind and the speech was actually broadcast across the nation. As a matter of fact, yesterday I wrote, “Some ‘Emperor’ this Obama is, he can't even "force" the networks to air his immigration reform speech. They declined! See http://bit.ly/1F2BnEo” I’m glad the networks carried it. In fact, in 2006, George W. Bush also gave a prime-time speech pushing for immigration reform. Nothing happened.

Look, I’m aware that there’s another side to the story. There are always other sides to the story. Please tell me something I don’t know. I also know that I’ve probably forgotten to mention a thought or two in here as well. It happens, but this needed to get out in a timely fashion.

Last but not least, one remark I received yesterday was, “Avoid getting involved in political issues. You'll piss off half your fans or more.” My reply? “To be on the side of what's humane? So be it.” I’ve never sided with people who are against people who are at a disadvantage and people who obviously have come here because the opportunities in their home countries do not allow them to lead a dignified existence because of the social strata they were born (or fell) into. Never. This is about human beings. It is about doing the right thing. Maybe some people will realize eventually that we’re all on this planet together, regardless of skin color, social status and sexual orientation and that it’ll only work if we band together as a people. As one. As a people of Earth.

Someone observed, “Not many people who have an audience are willing to speak on this issue. Thank you!” In case it isn’t clear, this is a topic that is very dear and close to my heart. I’d rather condemn myself to purgatory than to restrain myself from speaking out about this humanitarian issue.

While we’re at it, please spare me the “Stick to aliens” comments. Since when is one restricted to talk about something outside of their chosen line of work? And this wasn’t a “rant” either. Observation of truth is never a rant.

On a lighter note, someone observed, “Turns out @Tsoukalos is passionate about all aliens, and not just the E.T. variety.”

You bet!

In light,

Giorgio A. Tsoukalos

PS: If you don’t like what I wrote, and if this aggravates you or, gods forbid, somehow insults you, or you now suddenly dislike Ancient Aliens because of this, then I’d like to remind you that you’re on my page. My page, my opinion. Just like you’re entitled to your opinion, I’m entitled to mine. It’s an opinion. Remember what an opinion is? Then there’s this whole Freedom of Speech thing, too. I hope that one day some of you will realize that you were on the wrong side of history in regards to this issue. I hope this day will come soon.

PPS: In case you’re wondering, I don’t stand with Israel. I don’t stand with Palestine either. I stand with the people who have been blown to bits on all sides. The madness needs to stop, period.

PPPS: I love the LGBT community.

PPPPS: Go ahead, crucify me. I’ve gone against the grain since I was born on this plane.

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