Is it Just Me??? The rant for the day

I’ve been away from the blog for a few days, due to other constraints on my time. Coincidentally, I’ve also been watching the debate/protests/spineless senate regarding the proposed immigration reforms. Early this week, the Senate decided to soft-pedal the House’s recommendation that people who hire and give aid to illegals should be guilty of a felony. Then the nationwide protests started.

Perhaps I am simple-minded, but I just don’t get it. On the one hand, if you are here LEGALLY, you have nothing to protest about, so we should assume that those who ARE protesting are NOT here legally, or that they have some vested interest, like, say, parents or other family members who are illegals. (note that most people view the term “illegal”, when used as a pronoun, as offensive at worst and at best, politically incorrect. I use here on purpose, because that’s the black and white of it.)

So anyway, given the assumption above, what is it that makes one think that since one slipped under the fence in the middle of the night, swam the river, trespassed on other people’s property, then when the sun rose, think they have RIGHTS??? If you are here illegally, you should be arrested, and summarily sent back to where you came from. But that’s just me, I guess.

A couple of weeks ago, before all this began taking the national spotlight, Holly Mullen of the Salt Lake Tribune ran a column about a case that was to come before the supreme court. (http://www.sltrib.com/mullen/ci_3618109) It was regarding a man who is here illegally, and has been since something like 1979, and was deported at least three times, but kept coming back (illegally). He was even caught transporting other illegals back and forth (mostly forth I would think) across the border. Then there was a law passed that makes that a felony if it happens after 1989 or so. He had been deported (I think) for the last time (and is still out of the country), as part of that law and was protesting that he should be exempt from the exercise of that law, and be allowed back into the country because he was here ILLEGALLY before the time the law went into effect. He had his day before the Supreme Court, and many of the Justices had a hard time with understanding just exactly what he thought his right should be. More than one were totally incredulous regarding the whole scenario.

It seems a few of those justices have the same view I do: If you are here illegally, you should be prosecuted under the law, just like ANY OTHER CRIMINAL activity is prosecuted.

Yes, the issues are painful, people get hurt, families separated. But if this is NOT the result, it will not stop. If you are here illegally, you will be sent away, if not to prison, then certainly back to where you came from, and your family will be hurt as a result. Shouldn’t that be enough of a deterrent? Only if it is a REAL consequence, and not one that is only given occasional lip-service. (It’s the same concept of some consequence spelled out for your kids, if you only ever TALK about a consequence as a result of some negative behavior, and never follow through, well, the negative behavior won’t ever go away. But if you actually follow through on the promised consequence, then behavior changes) The consequences need to be real, and if they are real, maybe people considering the jump n swim will reconsider their options. Employers who use illegal labor should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, just the same as those who choose to work and live under the radar.

So now we have thousands of people protesting in the streets in every major city in the nation. Why? I would think it should be pretty clear; your mere presence here does not automatically bestow upon you the rights of those BORN here, or who have taken the necessary legal steps to IMMIGRATE. Statistics show that in neighborhoods where illegal immigrants tend to congregate, there is a noticeable increase in crime, poverty, depressed property values, gang activity, poorer education (for EVERYBODY), burden on public services, etc.

Dear protesters, you have the right to protest when you abide by the laws, and want to affect change on your behalf. If you aren’t abiding by the laws you are protesting or want to change, you have no leg upon which to stand, and you should go back to your home, or wherever, and hope you don’t get rounded up and shipped out.

The Senate SHOULD be taking steps to curb this silent invasion. But it won’t. They all have to get elected this year.