Shoot to Kill?? Line 'Em Up!

Shoot to kill.  I had to check my eyes, clean my lap top screen and then go back for a second look.  Nope, it definitely said "issue the order to shoot to kill".  What on earth could the poster possibly be concerned with?  Child molesters? Mass murderers?  Bazooka-brandishing terrorists?  Nope.  Just those pesky "illegals" again.

Excuse me?  Shoot to kill?  An illegal crossing the border.  Who the hell transplanted me into North Korea while I was sleeping?  How do I wake from this ridiculous nightmare?  How do I get back home?  To my beautiful America.  Land of the free; home of the brave.  Land where "give me your tired, your poor, your huddles masses..." is written right on the fucking statue that sits at the fucking welcome gate.

It is a sad situation that someone thinks the best "solution" for stopping illegal immigration into this country is to shoot to kill the poor individuals who have made what is frequently a life-threatening, and sometimes a life-ending, journey to escape to a better life in the Land of Plenty.  It is a sad situation that someone puts the value of a welfare check over the value of human life.  It is a sad situation indeed to live in a country whose citizens are still snowballed into believing that immigration is the worst problem our country faces on a day-to-day basis by politicians who pad their pockets with war profits whilst diverting the attention of those very same sad citizens away from that fact.

Truly a welfare check costs this country around $40,000 per year.  Out of the roughly 6 million immigrants per year who use welfare services (mainly for food and medical care), most of those are LEGAL immigrants.  Illegal immigrants who apply for welfare typically have a child who was born in the US, otherwise they do not take the risk.  If we very generously said that half of those who apply are illegal (which is not true) that means we are spending $120,000,000 per year in welfare benefits.  But wait, these immigrants mainly apply for only the healthcare and food portion of welfare, not the cash.  So that means they are taking less than $40,000 per year on average.  So that $120,000,000 is actually an inflated number.

Looking at the top receivers of foreign aid (aka money) in 2012, we sent $531 million to Tanzania.  Huh?  Tanzania is even a country?  We sent $1.5 billion to Egypt.  And they weren't even the top recipients.  We sent Israel over $3 billion.  That's right around $450,000 per person in their country.  Per person.  Can you imagine if the government had sent you a check of that amount instead?  But we are complaining about giving $40,000 to a person who is right here in our own country.  Do you see that very neat bait and switch the politicians have pulled right under your nose?

And that's not even war-related.  We are spending $720 million PER DAY in Iraq.  But we are worried about a measly $40k per year.  Surely there are bigger beasts to slay?  Bigger causes that will make a substantial impact on our country's bottom line?  A cause that doesn't requires us to SHOOT TO KILL a poor family that trekked through the life-robbing dessert for two days with no food or water just so that their child can go to school and get a good education or see a doctor?

How about dialing back the random hate just a little bit and focusing on something that actually matters?  Something that can make a lasting impact.  This illegal hate-mongering is like crying because the corner store charged you $3.50 for a gallon of milk, but happily skipping down the street after you just paid $300,000 for a Tootsie Roll and bag of Fritos.