Immigration: Illegal or Rule of Law?

Another major issue that divides the country and even some factions within factions is the almost daily "tossed-about" debate regarding immigration. For you legal-beagles out there, not just lawyers, what about "illegal immigration" is not understood? For a country to be sovereign, it must be able to control its borders as to the crossing of unless it is being invaded during a time of war.

Before you get upset, I believe that the US did invade Afghanistan and Iraq, but I also believe that it was justified in doing so, but that's a discussion for another time. The US is also being invaded by the flood of illegal (undocumented for the liberal and non-"rule of law" folks out there) aliens now using the US borders as their own private thruway. Illegal immigration is the problem, not immigration. Just so we are clear on that point.

See, if we can't agree that illegal immigration is the problem then the rule of law means nothing since if you are for the non-prosecution of illegal aliens that have obtained that status by breaking our immigration laws, then you also have to be for the breaking of other laws.

No, you shout! Well, bear with me. Let's go through this step by step. I am going to use the well-known Fox News commentator and lawyer, Mr. Geraldo Rivera (sp), as a prime example of someone that should know better, but allows his emotions to sway his judgment. First, he says that it is not a Hispanic problem, and I agree, its just that the Hispanics comprise most of the illegals now residing in our country. Second, he said on the "Factor program" that we, the US, is responsible since we have lured these people to America with offer of jobs. Now, as a lawyer, Mr. Rivera should know that one of the most dangerous "slippery slopes" in the legal profession is the support for disobeying the rule of law even though the law being ignored is abhorrent. The reason for this is that once any law is "ignored on principle" then all laws become ripe for the same treatment. Now Mr. Rivera has yet to suggest who would make the determination of what laws should be obeyed and which should not.

So this point, I offer the following situation. Since Mr. Rivera believes that the US is to blame since we lured the illegals here for jobs and our standard of living, then I would suggest the following should also to be allowed: Mr. Rivera should not be upset if I move into his backyard, use his resources, ignore his property rights as long as I am willing to clean his pool for less than his current pool-cleaner. See, I would say that Mr. Rivera lured me to his property by his lifestyle and the nice belongings he has in his house. We all know how long that situation would be allowed to exist before Mr. Rivera called the authorities and had me forcibly removed from his "country", but he can not see that he is supporting the same situation on a much grander scale along the US-Mexican border. It is always dangerous to let one's emotions get in the way of higher brain functions. You end up supporting very silly positions as Mr. Rivera finds himself doing.

OK, so we can see that it's illegal immigration that is the issue since the crux of the problem is the rule of law. Either we are a nation of laws, or we are not, and the alternative is anarchy. You simply can not have it both ways regardless of how unjust one believes the law to be. This nation has ways to change laws, and Mr. Rivera as a lawyers is better suited to doing it the right way than most; however, like many liberals, he chooses not to do so and therefore condemns himself to being branded worse than silly: that of being a hypocrite.

The solution to illegal immigration is very simple, but tough to agree upon since emotions have gotten in the way of most civil debates. First, illegal means just that: illegal. Those that are in this country illegally must take the steps to correct that status. They themselves came here illegally and they must remedy that in order to bring the rule of law back into balance. This also means that we must adopt the English common law of not conferring citizen-status on children born to illegal aliens in adherence to the legal concept of "fruit of the poison tree" whereby one can not benefit from an illegal act. Citizenship is a benefit, it can not and should not be bestowed on those regardless of their complicity in the original act.

Next, once the illegals have taken steps to return to their countries of origin, then the immigration laws of this country should be altered to allow them to return if they are sponsored by a US citizen that can affirm 3 things: 1) that the immigrant will have a job when they arrive legally, 2) that they will pay the current taxes including social and payroll taxes, 3) they will submit to and complete a background vetting process to ensure their identity and purpose for being in the US. The sponsor will be responsible for and liable for this immigrant while they are here in the US. This puts the monitoring of the immigration process on those that have the most gain and lose: the businesses that say they need the immigrant labor, and the immigrant themselves.

Additionally, all law enforcement personnel regardless of rank or jurisdiction will be required to determine the immigration status of all those that find their way into their custody. Any illegal aliens are to be processed via the current laws and turned over to the proper authorities for processing. Illegals that commit crimes and are found guilty will be incarcerated in the US with the cost of their detainment, adjudication and incarceration to be born by the country from which the convicted illegal crossed into the US (50%) and the convicted illegal's country of citizenship (50%). This will put the impetus of solving illegal immigration on the parties most responsible for its inception.

The solution of illegal immigration is unsolvable if one is willing to accept the basic premises of its existence and be tough-minded enough to understand that illegal means illegal. Finally, I offer one last reason why the US should stop and control illegal immigration: other countries do! Mexico, for example, has laws on the books that make illegal immigration a felony with stiff fines and almost certain incarceration and deportment. Mexican authorities have put federal troops on their southern borders to stop illegal immigration from countries south of their geographical position regardless of the fact that these illegals speak the same language and many share the same customs and culture. Mexican authorities are actually allowing, by not stopping the practice, gangs of Mexican thugs to accost, round-up, rob, beat, and even torture these illegal immigrants to Mexico! Again, here is the prime purveyor of illegal immigration to the US being the quintessential hypocrite in this matter.

Why not simply change the US immigration law and practice to match those of Mexico? Liberals have a tough time with that one, but turn a blind-eye to the breaking of the US law along the southern border with the hypocritical Mexican state. Ah, aren't emotions wonderful? They get you into all kinds of silly positions and beliefs.

Next, an offered solution to the role of government in providing "universal health care". Wow, another big emotional issue. See you then.