I try not to weigh in too often or lose too much sleep over politics, but since it is something I feel very strongly about, I think that blogger Emperor Darth Misha I said it best re: illegal immigration, to wit...ahem:
"An illegal immigrant is no more an 'undocumented worker' than a rapist is an 'undocumented boyfriend'".
Columnist Joe Mariani sums up my views on the situation perfectly and in great detail here, rebutting all the straw men and tired canards that proponents of mass illegal immigration often use:
America is a nation built on the rule of law, first and foremost. Much like driving or practicing a profession, American citizenship is a privilege, not a "right". People who wish to become citizens of this country should do so through legal channels, no exceptions. Anyone who wants to become an American citizen who is willing to wait in line, follow the law, file the proper papers, bring their family, work hard, assimilate into our culture, speak English, and be loyal to the United States and the values on which this nation was founded...I would love to have them as a neighbor and citizen, and would welcome their arrival. A great analogy here from Mike at the blog Cold Fury, "Citizenship is like marriage - you dont bring your ex-wife into the new marriage, nor ought you to retain any loyalty to your former country." I truly believe that this is how the majority of American citizens and legal immigrants feel about this issue.
On the other hand, people who start out in this country breaking and disrespecting our laws by entering the country and again by working illegally (if they work) and driving down wages, who commit a disproportionate number of violent crimes relative to their presence here...AND THEN have the gall to demand driver's licenses, free health care and education for themselves and their families, and a plethora of other "rights" (stealing taxpayer money), all while still remaining in allegiance to their Third World cesspool country from which they came and attempting to create enclaves of said cesspool in the middle of our country while insisting we speak their language before ours and telling us how horrible and intolerant we are when this doesn't happen...to folks of that ilk (and their enablers in this country), I say, STAY HOME! We have enough problems of our own without importing you and yours. Cue blogger Kim du Toit :
"What's at stake here is not the lettuce industry, or the landscaping business, or housemaid services. Whats at stake is our national culture, and the argument is with people who want to subvert it. Think Im overstating the issue? There are many (too many) parts of the United States where, if you don't speak Spanish, you either feel like a stranger in your own country or are made to feel like one. At some point, accommodation to anothers language has become not only a right, but an exclusive right, where one has to speak the others language, but they dont have to speak yours."
These satires (links here and here) explain the situation perfectly, and it would be funny if it were not so !*^& true:
This is where I part company with the disconnected elite Republican Party in D.C. today, as exemplified in the squishy spines of Senators Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Sam Brownback (KS), Arlen Specter (RINO- PA), and worst of all, the Republican author of the worst parts of this bill who aspires to be President, John McCain (AZ), who voted to grant amnesty to over 12-20 MILLION illegal immigrants who broke the law by coming into this country illegally and who are a net drain of billions upon billions of dollars a year on the economy. Giving your base and the grassroots folks who elected you the finger in the pursuit of a mythical "swing voter" or to get the Beltway press corps to like you is not only bad motivation leading to worse policy, it never works because that is precisely how Republicans lose elections time and again. The only good thing about this development in the Senate is that it will likely be the stake in the heart of any McCain presidential bid, as he will be skewered by primary voters, most of whom actually happen to be, er, well, conservative.
The Republican Party in general, including President Bush (with whom I agree on quite a few issues, but he is way off on this one), has abandoned and turned a deaf ear to its constituents on this issue, all because polls tell them they might lose the legal "Hispanic vote" or some portion of it, and because their major contributors in business who donate the big dollars want all the cheap labor they can get. The Democrats are no better, because they care nothing for these people beyond seeing them as more cheap, stupid minority votes to hook up to the government tit, thereby making them vehicles for the spread of socialism, dependent on Democrat welfare and income redistribution for their survival. The only common between the two parties re: immigration is pure, craven fear and opportunism of the worst kind by politicians who literally care about nothing more than they do ensuring their own power and re-election. The reason this so concerns politicians is that their terms of office could be in jeopardy if they vote against amnesty, and then it happens anyway, and all the new voters from said amnesty vote against them.
The link to this column by Frank Salvato actually provides one of the more innovative and original ideas I have ever heard regarding what to do with the millions of illegals already here:
Basically, it says that since illegal immigrants break the law entering the country illegally, they should be charged as such, with a felony, and here is the interesting part. If the illegal agrees to be found guilty of this felony, he must then register with the federal government and, because he is a felon, forfeits his right to vote in exchange for citizenship. The alternative is to go back and get in the back of the line in his home country and come here LEGALLY like everyone else is supposed to. The right to vote for anyone in the family of this person would only happen for the U.S. citizen children of the former illegal. While I still believe that the illegal should have to pay taxes and/or a fine, have no criminal record prior to the felony they accept, have a job, and learn English before their citizenship becomes official, this solution sounds much better to me because it would remove the fear of cowardly politicians who don't wish to be voted out of office by the people to whom they just granted amnesty. Hopefully then, it would make clearer who actually wants what on the illegal immigration issue and for what reason.
The intriguing solution above notwithstanding, enforcement of our borders should be the first priority, because it falls under the government's Constitutional duty to provide for the common defense of this nation. This is especially clear after 9-11, which was caused in part due to horribly lax and ineffective immigration policy, and it must come first. It is also healthier for our economy and society to have controlled, legal immigration, which I am all in favor of. I could mount my soap box for days about this issue, but I think my viewpoint is clear...getting full control of our borders should happen before ANY talk of granting citizenship or amnesty to illegal immigrants under any circumstances...after that, legal immigrants who play by the rules, come on over, illegals who don't, not so much.
In closing, I have this shout out, courtesy of former President Teddy Roosevelt, to all the Aztlan-lusting idiots flying the flags of other countries above the American flag and displaying signs with Che Guevara that say things like "Honkies go back to Europe"...take it away, Teddy:
"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the persons becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isnt an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."
Yep, what he said, in triplicate.
