A Cry For Fairness


“Pete” Gomez works very hard, sometimes 18 hours a day. He does so to support himself and his family. He pays his taxes—well, some of them—but he would willingly pay them all if the authorities would give his labor the legitimacy they give to others’ .He is not motivated by excessive greed or a desire to work in the “underground” or “off the table” economy, or take jobs from others. He works to get ahead, to better things for himself and his children, and he competes in the market place with people of many nationalities, native and foreign. He does not want to be an economic burden on society. He is a capitalist, in fact, wanting nothing more than a legitimate chance to do his work legally, without having to worry that legalities will separate him from his family. The American people often seem to despise him, but it is they who offer the work, the incentive for his efforts. He has no education, no technical skills, but if the marketplace is any measure of worth, the people who blame him for their ills also value his services. Is this a matter of law, or of justice? Who can fault a man for trying to make a living? Pete Gomez makes methamphetamine in Delaware where his great-great-grandfather, Arpad Gomesz, an immigrant from Hungary, settled in 1881. He is just like any other hardworking man in America, except the part where he breaks the law. Doesn’t Pete deserve amnesty? After all, he’s never been caught, and he really wants to be “legal” and live in the daylight— figuratively speaking.