In the ever-changing American political landscape, our politicians keep changing the 'Hot Button' issue. It is frustrating, in that they never stay on a topic long enough to actually have a legitimate dialogue and public debate about that particular issue. Instead, they would rather call people names, demagogue the issue, pass a resolution in Congress, and move on to the next thing - all in the hopes of finding a popular issue that will carry them to their re-election.
Over the past several years, we have seen many 'Hot Button' topics come and go, including: the 2000 Presidential election, Afghanistan, Iraq, WMD, National Security, 1st amendment rights (and the non-constitutional right to privacy), global warming, global climate change, bailouts, the economy, taxes, hope & change, and the list goes on and on. The latest and greatest issue is that of illegal immigration and how we should deal with it.
Supporters of the pro-amnesty cause do not like to use the term "illegal" when referring to this particular group of people. They will refer to these folks as immigrants (without the illegal moniker) or as undocumented workers. They refer to those who want tighter immigration measures as racists or xenophobes. They try to play to people's sympathies, because in a debate about the legalities, they have no leg to stand on.
Here is one of my problems with the whole amnesty thing. We are a nation of laws. If a nation chooses not to enforce some laws, then what moral authority do they have to enforce others? Laws are to be enforced equally, on all people, at all times. No man is to be above the law in this country. In essence, these people are putting themselves above the law, trying to make the case that the laws do not apply to them. However, this amnesty movement has become so brazen that not only do illegals gather in large groups to protest our laws, we have civil rights groups and the ACLU standing with them, protesting the nation's laws.
And these protests are not really that peaceful. While they may not be full-fledged riots, these are people who obviously have no problem with lawlessness (since they are already breaking the law in being here illegally). So they have no problem in tying up traffic and disrupting local businesses in order to try to get us to have sympathy for them. (Compare these illegal immigrant protests to Tea Party protests and see which ones are more civil). Yet the establishment applauds these lawless gatherings, while demeaning peaceful Tea Party rallies.
We ought to understand that it is called illegal immigration for a reason. We have immigration laws in this country. These people are not following the laws in place. Therefore, they are here illegally. It is not very difficult to understand. They say that this is a nation of immigrants and we should not be closing the door to immigration after all these years. True, we are a nation of immigrants. What they are not telling you is that we are a nation of legal immigrants who put emphasis on the rule of law. There are millions of immigrants here legally who followed the rules and did things the right way. If the government chooses to reward those who did not follow the rules, then we have slapped the face of those who are here legally.
Many illegal immigrants are here from Mexico. The Mexican government is mad at us for attempting to enforce immigration laws. Apparently, we are inhumane for trying to enforce laws. But one thing we do not hear about are Mexico's immigration laws. They put people in jail, fine them, deport them. They will have nothing to do with people who are in their country illegally. Yet, it is wrong for us to try to enforce our own laws by simply sending people back to their own country?
Also, this is a tremendous national security issue. If people can easily cross over our southern border, then the door is open for terrorists to get into our country the same way. The primary goal of the government is to protect the citizens who live under that government. How can this government protect its citizens when they selectively enforce the laws of the land, not caring who has come across our borders? Actually, by refusing to enforce immigration laws, they are endangering the citizens, not protecting them.
So, how do we deal with this? It has been estimated that we have between 10-15 million people in this country illegally? Can we send them all back to their home country and tell them to start over? That would be great, but it will be hard to do. How do we find them all? How do we keep up with it, since others will inevitably come and take their place? Does the federal government even care?
Arizona stepped up to the plate and decided that they would start to enforce the federal laws. Immigration laws are only supposed to be enforced by federal agencies. Arizona saw that the federal government was shirking their duties of upholding the law. They want the laws enforced, and if the federal government is not going to do it, then they saw that their only option is to take care of it on their own.
Now, we have the typical liberals out there decrying this move by the state of Arizona. Many are labelling them as racists. The President calls them misguided. Many liberals groups and politicians are lying about the bill, talking of the institutionalization of discrimination and profiling.
The federal government does not really want to do anything about this problem, because they are looking for any way possible to get re-elected. If we keep them in this country, then surely we can find a way to get them to vote. And if they find a way to vote, they are going to vote for the people who are letting them stay here.
The answer is simple. We need to vote for people in the upcoming elections that want to enforce our immigration laws. We need to hold our current leaders accountable for neglecting to enforce the existing laws. We need to hold businesses accountable that knowingly hire illegal workers. We need to tell our leaders that we expect them to do their Constitutional duty and protect this country. And if they do not do this, then we ought to show them the door.
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