Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Just for giggles, I looked up “illegal” at Dictionary.com. Here’s what I got:

il·le·gal  adj.
1. Prohibited by law.
2. Prohibited by official rules: an illegal pass in football.
3. Unacceptable to or not performable by a computer: an illegal operation.

n.
An illegal immigrant.

I love that the example is timely and topical.

My 2 cents on the immigration issue:

1. Read the definition of “illegal” - those who cross our borders without the appropriate documents have broken the law and should be dealt with accordingly. I’d prefer that all be deported, but I realize that the logistics of that is nearly impossible.

A conundrum.

2. I oppose the Dems proposed plan because it does not do one thing to secure our borders. But I’m not a fan of the GOP’s plans either because I think they are too lenient. But I could live with the “stronger” of the compromise plans - with tiered “amnesty” for those who have been here for a certain length of time (although that just grates on my law and justice side of my personality) and outright deportment for those who do not meet that time criteria. And the same for any who have sketchy backgrounds.

3. What I’d like to see is the enforcement of existing immigration laws. The truth is we don’t really need any new laws for this. We just need more proactive enforcement.

I’m frustrated with President Bush and Congress on this issue. Neither is strong enough, imho. And we are talking about the security of our country here. I feel for the people who want a better life, but there are millions of people who came into this country legally to get that better life. They patiently waited and filled out forms and dealt with American bureaucracy and took citizenship classes and whatever other hoops they needed to jump through to get into this country legally. Those who jump fences make a mockery of their sacrifice.

I’m glad I don’t work in DC. I would have been highly aggravated by the protest march yesterday afternoon - the one that started right when evening rush hour started. How’s that for planning?

UPDATE: Jay Tea at Wizbang sums up my thinking much better than I have or could. Please go read the whole thing…

The recent waves of protests have done yeoman’s work at muddling the issue. To them, all who have come to the United States are equal, regardless of the means they arrived. That is a gross insult to those who respected the system, followed the rules, did the paperwork, waited in line, and showed respect for our nation and our laws from the very first. To lump those exceptionally worthy people in with those who lied on their “tourist” or “student” visas, those who refused to leave when they agreed to, or simply broke into this nation is one of the crassest political acts I have ever witnessed (and as someone who lives next door to Massachusetts, the state that gave the country Ted Kennedy, Michael Dukakis, and John Kerry, that’s saying a LOT). It must not be allowed to stand unchallenged. Those people being lumped in with the illegal aliens are far better than that. They are some of the finest people our nation can claim, and should not be so insulted.