Immigrants

I've struggled internally with the recent "immigration" issue that has been thrown to the front page of all our major newspapers in Washington. Like many cities around the nation, we had a march here of immigrants.

Again, I find myself in a quandary of how I feel. But alas, a writer for the Seattle PI wrote a column on this and wrote what I was feeling:

"The truth is the 11 million people -- many from Mexico -- who are in this country without permission are here illegally. Period.

"Their reasons for coming are understandable, even a reason for empathy. They want to work to better themselves and their families.

"This, however, doesn't give them carte blanche to freely enjoy the benefits of American society, from public education to free medical care. They've bypassed means of legal entry that millions of immigrants from Asia, Africa and Europe line up just to apply for.

"Granting blanket amnesty to all illegal Latinos would be a slap in the face to immigrants who've followed the rules.

"The majority of Latinos who've come here without papers are no doubt good, hardworking folks. I do wonder about those who are not. Really, how do we know who is crossing the border? Do they have a criminal background? Or affiliation with terrorists or bloodthirsty gangs like Mara Salvatrucha?

"We don't know -- and that uncertainty should be a cause of national concern."

-Robert Jamieson
Whole article here