Dispatch from a Friend Back Home: Amanda

�Mr. Ruiz bemoans the fact that these poor people are rounded up like cattle and taken from their homes and put into detention camps! I beg to differ, Their homes are in Mexico and points south, They have invaded my country and are living here illegally, We are just trying to level the playing field. Mr Ruiz conveniently forgets to mention that they don't pay any taxes but use all the services the taxpayers pay for, Schools, Hospitals, Police etc.etc.. Mr. Ruiz's solution? None! He is just another liberal with a Latino surname who wants them to do whatever they want! There are an estimated 20 million scum here, We can't let them do what they want! �They have worn out their welcome and it's time for them to go HOME!�

This is a comment made on an article written by Albor Ruiz in the Daily News. Whether or not you agree with this comment, what I want to address is something different.

The comment above blames the liberal Latino author for allowing this �scum� to stay in his country and for his excessively compassionate and na�ve knowledge. Pro-, anti- and neutral ideals, with their different agendas, all have something to say on this incident � whether in favor, opposing or somewhere in-between. Either with anger or in gratitude, we point fingers of accusation: at the media, radicals, the government, the anti-terrorist agenda, and immigrants themselves. Whatever we find wrong with America�s immigration issue � we all look to solve the problem outside.

But, sometimes, you need only look in a mirror.

As an intern at the New York Immigration Coalition, a white liberal humanist living in a Latino part of Brooklyn and who spent time living in India, you can guess that I am pro-immigrant rights. My heart cringes at the words in comments such as these and I sit here, boiling with rage at this heartless ignorance.

Ignorance grows from the roots of fear. It is relatively common knowledge, though most don�t recognize it. Fear is what leads to these ignorant comments of hate � fear of something different. In essence, racism. Different skin, different eyes, different tongue. A fear that �they� will �take over� � completely alienating yourselves from �them�, to protect yourself.

However, while it pains me to admit it, my deepest fear that I have not caught up with my pro-immigrant attitude. Swimming in my own disappointment, I have my own anti-immigrant sentiments. I have ignored these feelings, knowing they are wrong, but deep down I know my apartment door has extra locks in fear of intruders who, in my nightmare, have the identity of poor immigrants. I loathe myself for keeping quiet around immigrants (or those who I assume to be) in fear of unwanted attention drawn from racist stereotypes.

I know I am not alone in this fear. Latino-immigrants can find themselves hating Chinese-immigrants. Eastern-European immigrants fear African immigrants and all examples in-between. Our nightmares are private but are connected with universal generalizations fed to us through different avenues of media, peers family and campaigns.

The immigration issue has been an ignored topic by both presidential campaigns, just has it has been ignored within ourselves. I ask for all to look within, honestly discover the root of your beliefs. If your anti-immigrant hate is stemmed from a selfish fear � address it. If you discover that your pro-immigrant agenda hides your anti-immigrant fear � acknowledge it. When you discover a belief or characteristic you don�t like, how you are afraid of something you shouldn�t � change it. Self-awareness creates self-change, and you must be the change you want to see in the world.

In the end, I hope you will realize that spewing words dripping with anti-immigrant disdain without knowing all the facts is not the way you want the world to be.