A little over 100 miles from here...

Every few weeks, I really get into the Mexico/U.S. immigration issue; I dive head first into every bit of information that I can find, first hand accounts, articles... and a lot of extremist viewpoints. I don't know where I stand on the issue, I only know that it bothers me a lot. I don't like that I live my life day to day and I don't really think about it until I'm not busy doing the things that people are practically dying for every day.
So I submerge myself with all this information, as if the suffering is somehow lessened if I don't turn a blind eye to it - it's a nice idea, in theory, that my empathy and ganas to do something about it make it more tolerable to those going through terrible times and desperation, but that's simply not the case. Its overwhelming to think about most of the time because it affects so many people and it's so complicated - so many factors to consider, so many lives and families and.... raaaaagh! I can't even formulate my opinion because I can't wrap my head around it all. And because I don't have a concrete stance and solution to this whole thing, I don't go voicing my thoughts, I don't get into debates about it... because I just don't know what to say.

And I think that's why there hasn't been any progress with immigration. People who consider every angle don't have a surefire solution, whereas the voices we do hear are those who are on the very edge of each side of the issue: "open the borders!" they cry, or, "build a fence!" And neither makes any sense.

How many of us have been hungry? Or worked until our hands bled, yet still clasped them together to pray that one day things will be better, to live solely on faith because that's all we have, where death and illness are not tragedy, merely something that is a daily part of life, as common as waking up and watching the sun rise as another working day begins...

I can't say that I have. And not because I am deserving of living a better life, but simply because I was born here.

I don't know what I can do. I've found that people don't like to talk about sad things, especially when they can't offer a solution. I can only hope that I can find some way to make a change soon, however miniscule.