‘Not just all about you!’
A Tuesday column in The Monitor, “Watching my dream voted away by a local congressman,” criticized U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez’s, D-McAllen, vote on a temporary spending bill that did not include protection for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), also called Dreamers. His strategy was to push congressional representatives to come to the table and negotiate in good faith a way to offer protection from deportation and later citizenship for these Dreamers.
The bill he voted for included funding the Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP,) a social program to help poor working families, for six more years to provide health coverage for these children’s medical expenses.
Rep. Gonzalez’s vote was correct and he defended his vote in a Sunday column, writing that his No. 1 priority was to represent all of the people in his district, including the Dreamers.
His vote affected over 300 million Americans, including members of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, military, CHIP children and federal government workers.
The complaining Dreamer should get mad at the real culprits in this situation — her parents. Years ago when they came to the United States illegally, her parents should have gotten in line as other millions of immigrants still waiting in their native lands do in trying to get into this country legally as required by the U.S. immigration system.
To this Dreamer all can say is “It’s not just all about you!”
Silvestre Moreno Jr., Mercedes
———
With all due respect to the Dreamer’s Monitor commentary, may I point out that Rep. Gonzalez, a duly elected official, deserves more respectful dialogue from his constituents than self-centered demands or ultimatums.
Legal immigrants went through all the proper steps to become U.S. citizens, waiting patiently in line, spending their own resources, respecting the laws in this country — not marching in or demanding special treatment. We welcome and admire them.
The average American citizen, does not get permission to take time from studies, or work, nor the money to travel across the country, to march, to plead against their own injustices to anybody. It makes one wonder, how are these privileges allowed, or funded for those who do?
Imelda Coronado, Mission
