You, Grace are the quintessential American. A true melting pot of the cultures, struggles, and peoples making USA. America is more of an idea & an ideal, not only a place. We share the ideal of shared work, sacrifice, respect for the land and each other. Capitalism, especially vulture capitalism that puts profits over people is greed not america.

The white European immigrants who 1st came here also worked hard but stole the land and enslaved the Native indians and mexicans they found here. Some of them were our ancestors, who’ve conveniently forgotten these truths. Sadly, vulture capitalism, then & now, got most of its profits from cheap labor, slave or immigrant, and from freely raping mother earth, stealing her resources belonging to all.

Real immigration reform must take this history into account, and make reparations for the plundering of America & its people. The inconvenient truth is our government supported the overthrow of many Latin governments, including Nicaragua, San Salvador, Chile, etc, while it burdened Mexico and the rest with so called free trade agreements so capital could flow more freely than people. People are not illegal; such pirates actions are. That is why our immigration must factor these inequities in, and repair the damage they have done. We must not fine our hard working people who have been driven here largely by our policies and greed. They deserve honorable and quick paths to permanent residency, unless all they seek is temporary status, and a clear, fair path to citizenship. In the future, as we graying Americans compete with the rest of the world for good workers and tax payers to pay into our social programs, we may well have to offer them good housing & education, in addition to living wages, in order to compete. Or the whiners will feel the pain.