Family Guy

I find the term "family values," as appropriated by Republicans, to be highly, highly offensive. Because what it is really saying is if you are not with the Republican program 100% of the time then what could you possibly know about family values? I highly, highly disagree with this statement.

Let's talk about social issues for a moment. In my own family, in many instances, people are on different sides of the same issues. Does that mean that some of us have family values and some of us don't? Does that mean that I am better than my sister because I hold the correct opinion on an issue? Does that mean I should stop talking to my sister because, obviously, she has no family values? Does that mean that my niece and my nephew are fated to have a sucky life because my sister might have a wrong opinion here and there?

The answers to all of the above questions are no, no, no and no. Families can be beautiful and heartwarming but also complex and complicated. Families fight and make up and then fight again. We disagree about stuff but, you know what, that is okay with me. I love talking to my relatives who I don't agree with. In a way, I like talking to them more because I already know how I think and I might not necessarily know how they think.

I have relatives who love Rush Limbaugh and I have relatives who worship Hillary Clinton. What I do know is that all my relatives are good family people. I have seen my conservative relatives go out of their way to help me out personally. But my liberal relatives have done the same too. I love my family and I wouldn't change a thing about them.

When Mitt Romney comes out and talks about his "family values," I do not recognize any of my family in what he is saying. He is talking about drawing a line in the sand with acceptable people on one side and the unacceptable on the other. White people, okay. Brown people, not so much. Rich people, we like you. Poor people, don't even notice you.

I consider myself half-immigrant. My mom came to the United States for the first time when she was 30 years old. She did not know a single person here other than my dad. The year was 1970. As I was growing up, I was ambivalent about where I lived. It was just a place I was born. But my mom would have none of that. She loved the United States. She was a patriot. And I think she was happy with the life she made here.

My mom was from the Philippines. You know what? Them Filipinos have some good values and I should know because I would hear about them when I strayed a little. (I got a C in science once.) I know the United States was just a bit better for having had my mom live here from 1970 to 1993, the year she died. Her legacy is three pretty good kids, two really cool grandkids, and the countless time she spent helping new immigrants from the Philippines get used to their new country.

My mom loved to help people immigrating to the United States. She would help them find places to live. She would tell them where the Catholic churches were. (Most Filipinos are Catholics.) She would have parties to introduce new immigrants to the ever-growing Filipino community in Houston. A big part of the reason I became a teacher in an inner-city school in a poor Hispanic neighborhood in Houston was to model myself after my mom a bit. (My mom was also a teacher back in the Philippines.) She was a welcoming face for many people moving to the United States for the first time from the Philippines. I was the same face for many people moving to the United States for the first time from places like Mexico and Guatemala and Costa Rica.

The arrival of my mom to her new family probably shook things up a bit back in 1970. But the family was the better for it. In fact, America is a better place for having had my mom live here for a short time as well. My family really is a diverse lot. We bitch and moan a lot. Sure. But there have been countless instances in my life where they stood up to help me out. I totally trust my family and their values. We are a different version of American than the version Mitt Romney talks about.

And you know what? His loss, not mine.

Step Up

Since the war started, Iraqis who have worked for the Americans are in an extremely precarious position in their own country. Many Iraqis who work in the Green Zone have had to lie about what they are doing entering or exiting the Green Zone when asked by their "fellow" Iraqis. "I am just looking for my brother who disappeared," is a common refrain. These people are risking their lives to support us and yet when they need help from us, nothing.

Many Republicans continue to support the war because otherwise would be a "betrayal of the Iraqi people." Yet how many of these same Republicans are willing to let Iraqis immigrate to our country? The attitude among some Republicans appears to be, "Whoa, hold on there a minute, buddy. I know you acted as a translator for us in Baghdad at great risk to yourself and your family but, see, you are a little too dark to be allowed into these here United States. Plus, we really can't be sure you are not a terrorist in disguise."

A Democratic congressman from Oregon is sponsoring a bill that would allow more Iraqi immigrants to enter the United States. Damn those Democrats, supporting even more immigration! (Um, sorry, I guess I was channeling my inner-Rush Limbaugh there for a second. Won't happen again.) Currently, an Iraqi seeking to come to the United States has no chance of making it over here without a strong personal advocate.

Wouldn't it show enormous goodwill on our part to allow Iraqis to access our health care and our universities and just the rest of our society? Wouldn't that help win some hearts and minds?

Also, do we really want to be known as a country that fenced Iraqis out in their time of great need?

The One Example of a George W. Bush Profile in Courage

In an admission that will surprise no one, I admit that I have a lot of liberal friends. And not just since I moved to Seattle. When I lived in Houston, most of my friends were liberals. Most of them were so liberal that I came off looking like Rush Limbaugh in comparison. To be compared to Rush, man, them fighting words to me. I mean, my worse enemies can't accuse me of being a rich dilettante with a recreational drug habit, what with the thousands of dollars I owe in student loans.

Let me preface what I am about to say by saying I have been against George W. Bush since at least 1997. (I will also admit I voted for him in 1994, when he first ran for governor. Fool me once, that whole spiel.) There have been times when I have defended things George W. Bush has done. I like that he tries to treat immigrants fairly. He has gotten a lot of static from his own party because of "his support for the wetbacks." But what do I get for pointing out that, in this single instance, President Bush was a profile in courage? My liberal friends say that there must be this hidden agenda. They don't know what it is but it is there. Being a native Texan, I feel like I have my finger on the pulse of how people in Texas regard immigrants. Especially those from Mexico.

Our policy in Texas? We live right by each other. The white community and the Hispanic community are so intertwined that to begrudge one group means you are begrudging yourself. The two groups are intertwined by marriage, work, school, church and just plain friendship. The stories I have heard of George W. Bush being raised among Hispanics reminds me of myself. My elementary school had three white kids. Me. My brother. And my sister. Did I ever feel like a minority? No, because the friendships I had there never allowed that thought to form in my head.

When Republicans demonize Hispanics, I become a bit discombobulated. Hispanic people have been a big part of my social and professional life. My years as a teacher in a mostly Hispanic high school in inner-city Houston are very precious to me. I suspect George W. Bush knows what I am talking about here. I bet he wonders just like me how Republicans can be so hateful. And so politically stupid.

The United States as a Gateway Community

Do you know the cause of everything that is wrong with our country? Well, I do. I have thought about this for awhile and have come up with three reasons. Not two and not four. Three. The first reason is a guy named Jose. The second is a guy named Pedro. And the last reason is a lady named Maria. Everything wrong with our country can be blamed on Jose, Pedro, and Maria. But there are solutions.

Of course, to properly implement the solutions, there will be some sacrifices. If we don't want these three to return to our country and annoy us, we will have to change the way we have been doing things. If you keep up with the news, you will notice how Republican politicians are always talking about how great the United States is. ("Best county ever" or "We are so smart that we should tell other countries their business" or things like that.) Democrats never do anything like this. In fact, they always contemplate why our country isn't as good as France.

For once, the Democrats are taking the right approach. If you were Jose or Pedro or Maria and you were looking for a new place to live, why wouldn't you want to move to the "best country ever?" I mean, I would. So why do we keep unofficially inviting them over? If we started hyping France up as the "best country ever," wouldn't you think that Jose and Pedro and Maria would choose to illegally immigrate to France? I would rather France have a problem with illegal immigrants than us.

Okay, I am taking off my sarcasm hat now. Sometimes I leave that on too much and confuse people. People sometimes think that I am a Republican who's scared of his own shadow. ("I am not a frady cat Republican but I play one on my blog!" ) Immigration is something I care about a lot. It is both personal (my mom was an immigrant) and practical (if people want to come here and work hard, by jove, let them!) I am a lawyer who is going to be hanging out his shingle in the next week or so with my sister. Since passing the bar, I have been doing some pro bono cases. All immigration.

One of my beefs with the anti-immigration crowd is the idea that immigrants can't possibly love our country. Um, wrong. For example, compare me (born here, took the United States for granted for around the first 28 years of my life) to my mom (left her whole life behind to come live here.) It is really no contest. My mom lived under the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines. I have always lived under democratically elected leaders. (Looking past the 2000 election. That be a story for another post.) My mom really became a student of this country. I slept through high school history classes. My mom marched in anti-abortion rallies. I stayed home and played video games.

I came across some questions from the United States citizenship test today. Hence this post. Let me give a little context about myself. I have a bachelor's degree in history, a master's degree in education, and a law degree. I taught high school history for almost four years. And I can't say I got all these questions right. Yet people coming to our country are studying to know our country's history. History that most of us probably don't know. History that I am pretty sure the most anti-immigrant hordes don't know.

Let me make an offer to the immigrant haters out there. If you can pass the United States citizenship test right this moment, I will shut up about immigration. If not then I think you have some studying to do.