As reported here, an estimated 500,000 people in Los Angeles staged a peaceful protest against proposed legislation aimed at immigration reform. What was being protested are the provisions that would make it a felony if you are in the US illegally, impose new penalties on employers that hire illegals, and erect fences along 700 miles of the border between Mexico and the US.
One person quoted in the article said that they are not criminals. I beg to differ, in the sense that, if you enter this country illegally, then yes you are a criminal. Don't get me wrong, as I have no problems with immigrants who enter the US legally. The US was founded by immigrants who came to these shores to escape religious or political persecution, poverty, famine and disease. My paternal grandfather immigrated here from Germany.
What I do have a problem with, however, are those who seek to enter this country illegally. They are a drain on social services which we cannot afford, not to mention the possibility of terrorists slipping into the country to do harm. Am I saying that all illegals are coming here to do harm? Certainly not. The vast majority of the estimated 12 million illegals that are already here have come here to work, striving to make a better life for themselves, which in a certain way is commendable on their part, and I don't have a problem with that aspiration. But they need to do it right, and enter this country legally.
Do I have the answers to the problem of illegal immigration? No, but I wish that I did.
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