Almost as predictable as Springtime riots in Paris, it is time again for the semi-annual illegal alien debate.
The debate is being shaped as a matter of racism by those opposed to placing any restrictions on or in any way sanctioning individuals who have entered the United States without fulfilling the properly legislated and clearly defined legal obligations for doing so. Those individuals are by definition and their own willful actions Illegal Aliens. Aliens because they are not native to this country. Illegal because they have chosen to circumvent the laws defining how one may legally enter and remain here. Simple non-judgmental definition of words in the English language. No racism involved at all.
CNN aired comments from a young woman who appeared to be in her late high school or early college years. She wanted everyone to understand that she is not a bad person just because her parents brought her to this country to have a better life. She is totally correct, that does not make her a bad person. She is however in a bad situation, not of her devising but certainly not of the devising of the American taxpayer either. Her parents chose to enter this country illegally and bring with them one or more children who are also illegal. It is not "unfair" to send her to the country of her birth, citizenship, and legal residence any more than it is "fair" for the legal, taxpaying citizens of this nation to have to educate and provide medical attention to her and millions like her. It is the law, plain and simple. Equal protection does not mean equal outcome for all. Sometimes someone is going to get the short end of the stick. That's just the way it happens to be. If one class of citizen is singled out for special consideration just because they can get together a better PR machine to make people feel sorry for them, then there is no equal protection. Those without the special consideration are by definition then being discriminated against.
By the simple happenstance of a shared border and economic reality, the overwhelming majority of those persons in this country illegally are of Hispanic descent. It is not racist to insist that those who have violated the law by improperly entering this country, whether through conscious action or unknowingly through the actions of adults in their lives, should be expelled from this country when that violation is detected any more than it is racist to arrest a person who has committed murder and is Mexican.
The true issue in this debate, and the one most often overlooked is not the illegals per se. The true issue is border security, and whether we have the will politically to secure this nation against all possible sources of infiltration and harm. As much as it was a failure in the 1980's the most recent time we offered one last, final, never-to-be-repeated opportunity for those here illegally to become square with the law, I would welcome another such amnesty immediately for all persons presently upon soil that can be legally defined as part of the United States of America.
I support such an amnesty if, and only if, substantive and meaningful steps are taken to ensure that all our borders are properly secured against penetration. No one should enter or leave this country without being properly identified, accounted for, and certified to be here for an acceptable and legitimate purpose. The Civil Libertarians will get up in arms over that, but consider: isn't that already the criteria for legitimate citizens of this nation attempting to return from abroad? Just try getting past Immigration officers at JFK, or Miami International, or LAX with just your Kansas driver's license, winning smile, and explanation that you accidentally lost your silly little passport somewhere in Morocco while on vacation. Your ride home will run out of gas circling the airport waiting to pick you up.
And that is what this whole ridiculous argument needs to do - run out of gas. No one is demanding we send all the illegals home and keep them and all the other filthy little cockroaches like them where they belong. All anyone wants is to ensure secure national borders, and a population that is accounted for and contributes to the common weal through hard work and a fair share of the tax burden. Paying people a fair wage and making them full partners in the system may well cause produce and certain services to rise in cost, but that will also spread the costs of education, medication, and incarceration across a broader base and lead to a general improvement in the lot of all. And greatly reduce the prospects of terrorist agents crossing into this country while we are busy being politically correct and looking the other way.
