Immigration Reform, Illegal Aliens and the Latino Vote

I am a child of immigrants.  Three of my grandparents came to this country from Europe.  Even the grandfather whose family has been in North America since 1635 came from Great Britain.  It is part of the unique American character that we are the children of immigrants: restless, independent, risk taking people.  We have been made great by similar people from all over the world. 

However, the current arguments about, “immigration” reform aren’t about immigrants at all.  The argument, as presented in cloaked and coded language, isn’t about reforming our laws toward legal immigrants.  It refers to the political elephant in the room: Latino illegal aliens, and those primarily from Mexico.  Not because their cause is just, but because Latino’s are a large voting demographic.  

Liberals hate the term, “illegal alien.”  It is too accurate.  What is more, it is a term that they can turn to political advantage within a growing group of voters.  But changing the name of something doesn’t change what it is.  If you were born in another country and came to this country without the legal right to do so, you are an illegal alien.  You may or may not be a nice person, a hard worker, intelligent, educated, a Repubican (!!!), but none of that changes the fact that you are also, by definition, an illegal alien.  And that is a problem for lots of people, least of all you and yours. 

It is also a very serious problem for legal immigrants.  These are people who wanted to come to the United States just as badly as the illegals, but they played by the rules.  They waited their turn, conformed to current laws, and are here to stay with a sincere stake in the success of this country.  These people deserve our respect, support and, most of all, a fair shake.  Illegal aliens deny this nation’s immigrants a portion of that regard.   

We have almost 40,000,000 foreign born, legal residents in this country.  Fifty-three percent come from Latin America.  Over half, some 21 million people, come legally from Mexico.  The breakdown is as follows:  Latin America (53%); Asia (28%); Europe (12%); and Africa, (4%).   Forty million new citizens means 40 million worth of jobs, schools, hospitals, transportation and social welfare while each group works its way toward economic independence.  Ultimately, these people give more than they get, so I am happy they are here.  But with an increase of about 2 million immigrants each year, our duties as a responsible host grow, not linearly, but exponentially.  

It is condescending and corrupt to try to sell or buy votes by offering legal protection to millions of illegal aliens, as long as they are in the right voting demographic.  That approach ignores the hard work of legal immigrants and denies the same right to immigrants from other parts of the world. 

Neither this nor any nation can take on an unlimited number of immigrants.  So I have a question for Democrats and Latino activists.  Which country’s immigrants are we to deny citizenship to, so we can include illegals in our population?  We can’t help everyone, so whom do we deny?  I want the people who are asking for their point of privilege to point to the map and tell me on whom we close the door, so we might open one for them.  Better yet, let’s have the politicians pandering to liberal Latino pundits answer the same question.  To whom do we say, “no” so you can say, “yes” in exchange for your vote?

Let’s thank our legal immigrants for coming here, and keep the faith.