Immigration is a privilege, not a right

The debate about illegal immigration has to start with one word - illegal.

We have to acknowledge that these immigrants, mostly but not entirely from Mexico, are here illegally. And we should be able to agree that when people do things illegally, they forfeit certain rights rather than gain new ones.

If, instead, we honor the wrongdoers by delivering benefits to them, then we devalue our own rights and dishonor the immigrants who have entered our country - or are patiently waiting to enter our country - the right way.

It seems, however, that many supporters of immigration reform are more interested in another word - politics.

There are at least 12 million illegal immigrants in the country. They join at least 41 million Hispanics already here. That is a huge bloc of voters, or potential voters, and that is why many politicians are afraid to "just say no" to illegal immigration.

But they had better do so, firmly and quickly, because there are nearly 300 million Americans of all sorts who have even more political clout. It's called "We the people," and in the Preamble to the Constitution, it was plainly established what we expected of our government:

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

The citizens of this country therefore have a right to expect justice, domestic tranquility and a common defense, as well as at least the hope that the general welfare of our citizens will come first.

Unfortunately, none of these concerns was addressed by the "compromise" legislation that Senate leaders put forth last week in the name of immigration "reform."

Justice would have to begin with punishing wrongdoers, wouldn't it? Domestic tranquility would have to begin with a feeling of being secure within one's own borders, wouldn't it? A common defense would have to begin with an understanding that soldiers are not the only enemy we need to defend against, wouldn't it?

Instead, the Senate came up with a proposal to reward illegal immigrants by giving them shortcuts to citizenship, and special privileges not afforded to the many aspiring immigrants overseas who are following the rules and waiting their turn.

It is a wonder that any senators voted for this plan, considering that they all took an oath to defend and protect the Constitution.

Please don't be fooled by the politicians who say they support amnesty because immigration is good for our country. Virtually no one opposes immigration, but rather breaking the law.

Don't be fooled by anyone who says it would be cruel to turn our back on the 12 million people already here because all they want is jobs and a chance to support their families. We don't have the capacity to become the world's employment agency and never will.

Bottom line is that two things must happen immediately if we are ever planning to maintain control of our own country and our own economy and culture.

First, we must secure the border with Mexico. The president and Congress can do it anyway they want, but do it they must. Fence? National Guard? Army posts? Try them all, or do a combination.

Would that make us look like East Germany building the Berlin Wall? No, we are building a wall to keep people out. A new Berlin Wall would be if Mexico were building a wall to keep its citizens in amidst the poverty and deprivation. Instead Mexico is doing everything it can to encourage its citizens to get to America. Horace Greeley's pioneering cry has been changed to "Go north, young man," and that's what Mexicans are doing as they seek to find their fortune in the American West. Trouble is, this is no longer a wide-open territory waiting to be settled by whoever dares to come. It is part of a sovereign nation with rules and regulations. The only way to enforce those regulations is to secure the border.

Secondly, we must take away the incentives that exist for illegals to come here in the first place. That means current laws against employing illegal aliens must be enforced. Tougher laws must be added.

In addition, states must make a concerted effort (under threat of federal blackmail if necessary) to remove benefits from the reach of illegal aliens. If an illegal immigrant is ineligible to be employed, then he should certainly be ineligible for unemployment benefits. The same goes for welfare, free education, health care and all other benefits paid for by the citizenry and legal immigrants of the United States.

When the gravy train dries up, you won't have to lure the illegal immigrants onto buses heading back to Mexico; they will go of their own volition. The reason they are here is not because they love our way of life, our language or our culture. It is because they want money. If they are going to be poor, most of them would just as soon do it in their own country.

Would there be impacts on our own country? You bet. Loss of 12 million illegal workers would certainly result in higher wages for American workers. It would also mean that a huge amount of money draining out of state coffers to support the families of illegal workers could be diverted to the benefit of citizens. There would probably also be a sizable increase in crime among some illegal immigrants who could no longer get work. That's to be expected, but it also shows that these are not necessarily people we would allow into our country if they had applied to come in through the front door.

Americans should be sympathetic to those who yearn to be free, but we should not put our own way of life at risk to accommodate people who yearn merely to take advantage of our generosity.