Immigrants: Illegal or Undocumented?

“America is a nation of immigrants.” Everyone recognizes that our country was built and continues to be strengthened by immigration. However, the uncontrolled influx of millions of people with few work skills, even fewer assets, and no sense of identification of what it is to be an American, introduce problems that leaders of both political parties have been unable or unwilling to confront.

Faced with increasing educational, law-enforcement, welfare and infrastructure costs, Arizona has attempted to defend its state sovereignty and supplement enforcement off federal immigration law.

The outcry by Democrats, the Obama administration, liberals and immigration advocates has been loud and inflammatory. Listening to them, one would think that Arizona has usurped federal authority and is trying to rip families asunder. Nothing could be further from the truth. Arizona is only enforcing the law that the Obama administration is unwilling to enforce, and protect its citizens from escalating social problems directly attributable to illegals.

The Supreme Court and other federal courts have said Arizona has the right to do so. One major job of a government is to protect its culture, language and borders.

If you believe that unregulated immigration is a good thing, just ask American Indians.

So round ‘em up and toss them out? I don’t think so.

Agreed that we have to control immigration for both quantity and quality. We have enough crime, violence, and terrorist threat as it is. We don’t need to import more. And nobody wants to be taxed to support or control those who they see as uninvited, ungrateful, uncooperative, negative contributors to our society.

So what do we do? One approach is to put enough force and fortress on our borders to stop uncontrolled access. Not pretty or cheap, but necessary to some degree, though no more than absolutely necessary, please. We would not benefit from closing our doors to the rest of the world.

How about the illegals that we’ve already have? Some say to make life so unpleasant for them that they leave voluntarily, “self-deportation.” Perhaps acceptable for true “un-desirables,” but the vast majority are not.

The majority are, on balance, positive contributors to our economy, to our communities, and to our ever-changing culture. They have families, friends and co-workers, and they are human beings.

Let’s treat them with the dignity that they deserve. Give them a defined path to a secure acceptance or the admonition and “assistance” to leave.