After watching almost two weeks the story of the crisis on the border, some thoughts have come to my mind.

Right now unemployment is at the lowest it has been in years, which means there are more jobs than workers. Instead of sending the immigrants arriving on the border back to a place that is untenable to live, especially with a family, maybe we should rethink this whole thing.

They are seeking a safe place to live where more than likely they or members of their families will not be killed or made to join a gang. Why don’t we allow them to stay, become citizens and work in this country in the areas that the employers are looking for workers.

In the past couple of weeks, I have heard news stories about companies on the East Coast needing workers to process crab meat. Some factories are not open because they can’t find enough workers. These are not minimum wage positions but not enough Americans are applying for the jobs.

In Texas, where one of the detention centers is located, the mayor of the town said they have jobs for the immigrants. Huge farms need help milking cows, working fields and feeding the herds. They are not able to hire enough workers to run the farms.

In short, this country needs immigrants as workers and we can easily absorb them into this country, with no loss to any American now here and with no increase in “welfare” benefits. They will earn their pay and contribute to our economy as citizens.

While I agree they should close the border, we are not in the same position as some of the European countries that have tens of thousands of immigrates fleeing war torn countries. We have people fleeing countries that are gang-infested, but they have the same life-and-death struggles.

The United States has enough jobs available to most the people looking to settle into this country. The ones that are smuggling drugs or have convictions, of course, should not be allowed to come into this country. But most of those that are arriving are families just trying to stay alive and in many cases give their children a decent lifestyle.

Please remember that if you are not a Native American by birth, your family was once in this situation, wanting a life in this country that would not be available in your ancestral land. We must work together to fix the problem.

We must secure our borders and we must do that now. I will suggest that you use whatever method you chose to study the geography of the 2,000 miles of U.S. border and decide if you think a “wall” is even a possibility for many of those miles and, in fact, even necessary in some of the wild and desolate areas where no one crosses in any case.

But as we secure our border, let us also be Americans. Remember what your forbearers may have met when they arrived. And no matter what that was, you are here now as an American, in a country with plenty of space and much opportunity for many more.

Compassion is so much more satisfying than animosity. And it is actually healthy for you. Call your current representation in Congress and demand some sane action. Study the candidate for November’s elections in the meanwhile and vote for sane and compassionate people who will represent long-standing American values.