Meeting New Friends at the Park

I took my kids to the park this evening and there was another woman pushing her kids in the swings next to me. Her kids had dark hair and eyes, like mine do and she said,

Her: So you are a white girl married to a Hispanic, too?

Me: ....(pause while I wrap my head around the question. I have never thought of myself in this way before. Probably because I define myself by who my family is, not by my race and my husband was born in the US and doesn't refer to himself as Hispanic.)

...umm, yeah. I guess, I mean his mom is Mexican, but he doesn't even speak Spanish. I think it would be nice if he did. Then our kids would learn Spanish.

Her: My husband and I, we both speak Spanish and English, so do our kids. You can put your kids in the Spanish class at the elementary school and they will teach them.

Me: There is a Spanish class at the elementary?

Her: Yes, it is called ES....something..

Me: ESL (English as a Second Language. My husband taught that in the high school for mostly HMONG kids. It is for teaching English, not Spanish.)

Her: Did you see on the morning show today, they were talking about the wives of Hispanics?

Me: No, I didn't.

Her: Well, they were complaining about how white women marry Hispanics and then when they get deported, the women go on government aid. They didn't even mention those of us who don't.

Me: Oh? (???)

Her: Like my husband has been deported 3 times and I never asked for government help once! His friends just helped me out until he was able to get back.

Me: ... uuhhh, That's good. (what!!!!!?????)

Her: Obama said he was going to give everyone work visas, and he hasn't done nothing.

Me: You're right, he hasn't. (It must be awful to live in fear that your husband will die trying to get back across the border.)

Her: We are all going to Mexico to visit soon. I'm kind of nervous because of what happened there on the border, you know? Like did you see that movie "Blood_something___" where they lured white women over the border and then chop them up and put pieces of them on crosses?

Me: No, I missed that one (thank goodness)

Her: We just got a bunch of them movies. There is this one, "Sin Nombre" it will make you cry. The man gets shot crossing the border. He doesn't make it.

*******
Then she ran off to catch her son because he was headed for the road. And I had to leave to get my son to Cub Scouts on time.

Here's the thing. I googled, trying to find the news program she was talking about. I couldn't find it. I have questions though.

1. Is "white" synonymous to "citizen" where you live?

2. Is "Hispanic" synonymous with "illegal" where you live?

3. Why should an American Citizen who is married to an illegal alien have less rights than any other American Citizen? What makes her worse than any other American Citizen who applies for government aid?

4. Can't this guy get a green card? He is married to an American Citizen.

5. Why can't we just give everyone a green card? Then no one would be illegal and we would know who is here and they wouldn't have to live in fear or be exploited by the bad guys.