Other peoples.....

I only post this because of the present primarily Republican furor over ‘illegal' immigration from Mexico! It seems that the argument is that potential immigrants should get in line behind those who have already applied, they all should be able to speak English, that they should not be a burden to local facilities and taxpayers and they should not take jobs away from Americans!

So now our Republican government plans to introduce 10,000 black, presumably impoverished refugees who probably don't speak English, are unskilled and know nothing of our society. I assume that what has happened in the past will happen again and that our government will not provide financial support to the communities where these people will be dumped. The same thing happened at the end of the Vietnam war - especially in California.

I'm not making a moral judgement on this but rather pointing out the incongruities between our government and popular attitudes toward immigration both in Congress and on the street. At least Mexicans are Americans and know something of our culture.

Speaking of ‘other' Americans and culture, the sovereign Navajo nation is having their own election for President during the general election on November 7. As a show of their sovereignty, they are planning to have extensive trade relations with Cuba for their products. They are also negotiating a closer and more friendly relationship with their Hopi neighbors.

"WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. - Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr. came in first in the Navajo primary, according to unofficial results; but the person in second place, Lynda Lovejoy, claims a victory and title all her own - the first woman to win the Navajo presidential primary and face off in the final race for president."


U.S. offers to take in Burundi refugees
By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer Tue Oct 17

WASHINGTON - The U.S. is offering to permanently resettle up to 10,000 refugees from a 12-year civil war in the African country of Burundi, the State Department said Tuesday.

The refugees would be brought to the United States over the next two years with refugee status, and will be given the option of applying for U.S. citizenship, said State Department spokesman Tom Casey.

The resettlement of the refugees, who have been in camps in Tanzania after fleeing from Burundi, is in response to a request in the past year from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Casey said. He said other countries may take in refugees, as well.

More than 250,000 Burundians were killed in the civil war before a cease-fire was arranged last month.

Burundi long has been divided by tension between the majority Tutus and minority Tutsis, who dominated the government after independence from Belgium in 1962. The assassination of the country's first democratically elected president in 1993 ignited the civil war.