Do I agree with the President’s guest worker visa program? Yes. Do I favor allowing more immigrants into this country? Again, yes. I believe we’re all immigrants unless we’re Native American, and that would only count for 1/16th of me and about 1/8th of my wife. Probably less for many millions of Americans.
However, proponents of today’s “strike,” as it were, fail to realize that illegal is illegal. I support a “path to citizenship” as much as anyone, but we cannot forget the fact that numerous people are in this country illegally — to the profit of American businesses or not. The question is not whether these people are contributing to the economy (more than they are draining tax dollars elsewhere), but whether they are morally justified in staying here and/or claiming they have “rights” to be here.
If I were in France illegally, what right would I have to claim that the French government should give me a “path to citizenship?” None. Surely, I could ask and probably would be given the details of the 5 Step Program to Citizenship, if such a one exists. But it would be egregiously arrogant and even more presumptuous of me to assume that, just because I and a few other million or so people like me went to France, and continued there illegally, we deserve to be given a path to citizenship.
I’d be much more comfortable with protests such as today’s and earlier ventures if the dialogue were different. Rather than demanding equal treatment, be humble enough to admit that you are here illegally. The country isn’t about to ship out 11–15 million people, nor is this President deaf to the needs of the immigrant community. I think that most undocumented people do understand their precarious position, but that left-wing ideologues are pushing an agenda seeking to de-Amerify America by trying to equate illegal immigration with a human rights issue.
I’m sorry, but that just falls flat against the reality. Yes, we do need create better and more effective pathways to citizenship/legal immigration. But we cannot ignore the fact that illegal immigration occurs and can be used as an effective tool to harbor those coming to the United States not just for the American Dream. If we ignore this in order to oblige “rights” activists, those same activists will be nowhere to be found when the effects of our actions lead to devastating results.
Common sense dictates that we do otherwise, and whether you support today’s protests or not, if you have the ear of a “rights” activist ask him or her this question: Does it matter that these immigrants are here illegally?