by John Nevola

Created on: January 15, 2007   Last Updated: April 19, 2007

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
Let's Finally Solve The Damn Problem

As strange as it may sound, this is not the impossible problem to solve that the politicians will lead you to believe. But the solution requires that leaders from both political parties step up to the plate and give up the mantras being bellowed by their respective voter bases. For the conservatives, "stronger enforcement with no amnesty" is the battle cry. For the liberals, it's something like "full citizenship (presumably to crank up the votes) with open borders".

Both parties will have to give a bit of ground on these "intractable" positions and get down to the business of hammering out a workable policy. Once these hard positions are softened, the rest of the solution is really quite simple.

The first order of business on the road to a solution is to stop defending these illegal aliens. As important as they are to the economy and as difficult as it may be to identify them, they remain "illegal", not simply "undocumented". None of the so-called benefits accrued by the American economy are sufficient justification to simply ignore the problem and render them "legal".

No reasonable person should deny that immigration is good for this country on many levels. However, it must be legal and it must be controlled.
We are all products of immigrants unless we happen to be of Native American decent. Our immigrant predecessors had a passionate love for this country that they passed on to their children and subsequent generations. They appreciated the prospect for a better life and freedom from oppression that America promised. Why else would they have risked all and left everything behind to start life all over in a strange, new place? Immigrants tend to bring a fresh perspective and don't take as much for granted. Make no mistake about it; immigrants infuse a healthy dose of passion and gratitude for American life that, quite frankly, is not wholly appreciated by many Americans today.

Immigrants of past generations kept the traditions, values and culture from their native countries. They stressed education for their children and regardless of the ties that still bound them to the old country, realized that they had to assimilate themselves into the United States of America. That meant learning the English language and in many cases, studying for and passing the test for Naturalized Citizenship. Their unwavering commitment and loyalty to a better life for their families, their love of America and their willingness

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