I need a pep talk. I'm terribly down about the Orange Idiot's immigration stance.

[sinkingfeeling]

I live in NW Arkansas where we have an Hispanic population of around 18%. I think the University has 400 DACA students. I love shopping at the Hispanic super market and bakeries.

Today our temperature was around freezing until the afternoon when we began to get freezing rain. Yet at 11AM the Hispanic gentleman who has a small lawn business showed up with two others to manually remove two large brush piles from my property. I had talked to him at the end of January and he was keeping his promise to do the work.

We discovered his truck and trailer were too wide to get through my fence, so these guys spent 3 hours dragging limbs and brush across 300 feet of yard, over the fence, into the trailer. And it was cold!

I sat here and wondered about the white guy I had hired 3 years ago to remove the piles. He came, worked about and hour and quit. It was springtime.

These 'immigrants' are incredibly hard workers. They're honest and polite. This guy never sets the price for his work, but let's me suggest the payment. I want them here.

Anyway, it all makes me so sad. I'm so disappointed in my fellow Americans allowing Trump to throw people out based on their country of origin.

[Phoenix61]

1. It's not all of us. It's a few vocal assholes.

They have always been among us but before they had the good sense to hide their hatefulness. Now they wear it proudly. They will lose like they always have. I agree that it is embarrassing and depressing they have decided it is safe to crawl out from under their rocks. They are wrong. It's not.

[Boxerfan]

2. Be carefull what you wish for is what I would tell the Wall ee's

The truth is the migrant population was drawn by jobs. These were hard jobs that didn't pay well. And until the people paying low wages want to come up to local reality they are cutting the base of workers out from the jobs they want filled.

And don't get me started about family values. I was born a rich white boy-and my father basically threw me & my siblings away. I have only seen strong family values in the Hispanic community . And they treat the elders with respect and help them in the older years vs the retirement communities we stuff the elders who are just smelly and old don't ya know....

Every one of them I knew was a far better value to the USA than any Republican. That goes treble nowadays.

[RandomAccess]

3. I can't give you a pep talk -- just commiseration

and agreement.

A decade or so ago we lived in a house that needed a new roof. Ouch, expensive. The crew were all immigrants, very few if any of whom spoke English. It was hot summertime in rural Georgia. They arrived before 7 and got to work right away and didn't stop til about 7 pm. (Drove me crazy, actually.) I do think they took off about an hour for lunch, which they'd brought themselves. I marveled at their energy, dedication and industriousness.

I'll tell you something else. While I can't condone illegal immigration, I've thought about it often: those who dare come have incredible drive, courage, and commitment. They want a better life for themselves and their children and are willing to risk everything to get it. It's not that they don't know that the journey is fraught with peril, it's that their dreams mean more, are more compelling. (And, who knows, they may be a little loco to boot -- in denial about the difficulties.) And then they get here and very few of them speak the language at all, and they can't possibly have that much money in their pockets. This kind of drive and energy are priceless, and precusely the kind of VALUES we need more of, IMO. For those who have made it and are here, and are law abiding and earnest, I want them to be able to stay. I value and salute them.

[OhNo-Really]

5. I'm with you. 33 Days Left Before DACA Deportations

The fate of 800,000 + people weighs heavily on my heart as well.

18,000 Can be deported today!

.............."By March 5, 2018, approximately 22,000 DACA recipients already will have lost status and face the challenges listed above. But that number will only be the beginning. Come March 6, 2018, the number of people losing DACA each day will significantly increase, until no protections remain for the nearly 800,000 Dreamers who have been making enormous contributions since they first received DACA."

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/news/2017/11/09/442502/thousands-daca-recipients-already-losing-protection-deportation/

800,000 people need help.

Shame on Republicans

[Upthevibe]

6. Jimmy Fallon from his show after the Superbowl on Sunday...

....

come gather 'round people wherever you roam
and admit that our country don't feel like our home
and that silence speaks louder than those who condone
if a tweet to you is worth faving
then lift up your voices and put down your phones
for the times they are a-changin'

come women and men who hashtag #metoo
and believe me when I say that we believe you
for weak is the man who calls truth fake news
time's up, our silence we're breaking
and even though mel gibson was in daddy's home two
well the times they are a-changin'

come athletes with platforms throughout the land
who by taking a knee are taking a stand
and before you shout out that they should be banned
listen to what they are saying
perhaps they'd stand up if you reached out your hand
well the times they are a-changin'

come journalists, writers who report the facts
and brandish your pen to fend off his attacks
look past what he says and look at how he acts
the fire and fury is raging
for his words get heard but your words can fight back
New York Times they aren't a-failin'

come leaders who bully like internet trolls
we'll curse you with four letter words, love and hope
for we will go high even when you go low
the order is rearranging
for you have the power but but we have the vote
the times they are a-changin'

[OhNo-Really]

10. Oh my gosh! I so needed to hear that! Thank you!

At first I thought Dylan came out of seclusion.

[Snake Plissken]

7. Close your eyes and picture Trump on the side of the road picking up trash in his orange jumpsuit

Robert Mueller is working tirelessly to make America great again and November will be here before you know it

[radius777]

8. Inspiring image. /nt

[OhNo-Really]

11. I sure hope so

Thank you for a positive image.

[Kirk Lover]

9. Every immigrant I've met has been a damn hard worker and has quite frankly made me feel

like a slob. Don't despair...whatever bullshit this orange asshole 'undoes' or does....well, we will respond in kind. The only thing this treasonous trash will leave as a legacy is bad headlines and the biggest scandal in US political history. NOTHING can change that.

[american_ideals]

12. "These 'immigrants' are incredibly hard workers." I want them here too!

Well put, very well put.

If you get down, call your senators and Representative a few more times. Tell them this is a country of immigrants. That you believe in American values. In the Statue of Liberty as a signal of welcome. In Emma Lazarus' characterization of America.

Volunteer for Majority 54. Donate to the Progressive Turnout Project. Or the ACLU. Join ACLU's People Power group. Action helps to make you feel better.

[american_ideals]

13. Oh and listen to Pod Save America

They are concrete and optimistic and will make you feel better.