Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Pick the Right Story!

Yesterday there was a front page story on the local free newspaper Red Eye about deportation center in Illinois. I chuckled while reading the story because whoever wrote it didn't make it clear if they are for those to be deported or against them. (I don't believe that journalists don't take sides. They pick stories to write about because they care about one way or the other.)

The main character in this story was a 19 year old young man who was about to be deported to Mexico. He has been in the US since he was 5 (entered illegally with his family). He has just recently fathered a child with his 20 year old girlfriend - call me conservative but I don't want my children to think that having a child out of wedlock is a norm, ever. Now he's gone, somebody has to pick up the tab for this single mom and new baby. There must be some sort of health care he has received, who paid for that?

He was working hard - wait, who paid for his education for him to get the job?

He was picked up at a traffic stop - hint: safe drivers don't get picked up, anywhere.

He was found driving without a driver's license and arrested - great, I guess he doesn't have insurance either.

He would be deported to Mexico, a land he has little knowledge of and few friends - that's what I had when I first came to the US too! But I made it just fine.

This country has always been tolerant for irresponsible behaviors, but I don't have to be. I don't screw people and have a child while my own life is in limbo. I always try to do the right thing, because it might seem free now, but I know I will have to pay for it one day. But I hate to pay for others' mistakes. Where is the accountability?