“Well, there you go again,” as President Reagan might say. Just because the state of Arizona has taken the hard steps to do what the federal government should have already done, the folks there are being called racists and worse.
And, I expect that once again, since I happen to agree with what the Arizona Legislature has done, there will be a letter or a call or 10 from some of you out there calling me one, too.
I know that I am thickheaded about a lot of things, but I have yet to hear an argument to convince me how it is all right for someone to be here illegally. Not one point has been made and not one shred of evidence has been brought forward that absolves border jumpers for the crime of crossing illegally.
Now, I have nothing against legal immigration. I believe that if someone has something to offer this country, be it in an educational, technical, labor or cultural way, they should be welcomed with open arms. But they should be welcomed within the limits of the law. And those laws exist today.
There are many reasons for allowing only legal immigration, not the least of which is that although we are a nation of abundant resources, the abundance is not infinite. We only have so much room and so much food and natural resources to go around. While it would be nice to live in some fairytale Star Trek world where there is always enough for everyone no matter how many there are, and with apologies to my more liberal friends, that just is not reality.
Yet, there are those who think that we should turn blind eyes to those who are here illegally and allow all who want in, to come.
When the words inscribed on the Statue of Liberty were first written, there was no idea our global populations would grow to the numbers they have. Back then, the “huddled masses yearning to be free” for the most part came in through the ports of New York in a legal manner, most didn’t walk across the northern or southern border.
So, you may ask, “what about the ones already here?” Well gang, with apologies to my more conservative friends, we have to just go ahead and deal with them. If they are here and obeying all other laws except their legal status, and if they can prove they are productive members of our society, let’s give them a chance to stay. If they cannot, or if they are in one of our prisons, ship them home. Then seal the borders and allow legal immigration processes to work.
If the ones allowed to remain here want to move their families here and become citizens, let’s help them do so. If not, let them stay on work visas if they qualify.
Look, I don’t want people kept out who want to be here, but there has to be a limit. Would you let 10 or 12 people just come in to your home and live in your basement uninvited? Would you feed them and clothe them and pay their medical bills if they mowed your lawn and cleaned your house without you asking them to do it, or would you call the police and tell them there were intruders in your house and you want them arrested? They are, after all, doing jobs around your house that you don’t want to do. Why can’t they stay, they just want a nice place to live? Well, it is the same thing when that house is Lincoln’s divided house and instead of 10 or 12 it is 10 or 12 million.
Finally, it is being said that the Arizona law is unconstitutional because to stop someone and ask about their citizenship violates their Fourth Amendment rights.
Well, aside from the fact that they have already said that will not be the process used, and someone here illegally doesn’t qualify for the benefits of our Bill of Rights. It isn’t how things work for the rest of us. I don’t hear the illegal apologists complaining about the police conducting license checks where they stop people engaged in a legal activity just to check their legal status to be driving.
I have to ask for someone to explain to me, if it is legal to check for a valid drivers license, registration and proper insurance coverage, how can it not be legal to check for citizenship? Do illegals have more rights to privacy than natural born citizens?
You know the answer to that one, even if you don’t like it, you know. Go ahead, say it out loud, you’ll feel better.
Like the man said, “the truth shall make you free.”
