Illegal Immigration Concerns Us All

With all the current controversies raging over illegal immigration and immigration reform, I think it necessary to call into question the misconceptions some have who are proponents of granting amnesty to undocumented workers in this country. These people tend to focus their arguments against detractors by making it seem like being against amnesty for illegal immigrants is equivalent to being against the immigrants themselves. This is simply not the case.

I personally am against a policy that would allow any kind of amnesty for these individuals for two basic reasons, namely that a policy such as this takes for granted those who took the time and effort to enter this country legally, and that a policy like this gives illegal immigrants a free ride when it comes to our country's resources while at the same time incurring an added cost to legal citizens for those same resources. My personal interests in this regard have nothing to do with having a negative attitude towards illegal immigrants as people.

First off, I feel that by allowing people who have entered this country in a way that has not been defined by our justice system as a legal way to do so are basically spitting in the face of all those who have spent countless hours doing paperwork, spending money and waiting to become citizens the legal way. If a person feels like they are above our country's laws before they are even a legal citizen, it makes me question whether or not they truly deserve to be a legal citizen of this country at all.

Secondly, the most personally irksome argument I have against a policy of amnesty toward illegal or undocumented immigrants, is that I feel like the legal citizens of this country are being short-changed and taken advantage of by foreigners who come here and use our resources for free while we, the legal citizens, foot the bill.

When an undocumented worker with no security number comes from another country and is hired at a job, how exactly is that person taxed? I pay almost a quarter of my income to the government for things like police protection, the upkeep of roads and public property, and for my future well-being and health care. When an undocumented or illegal immigrant needs police protection, or uses our public facilities or school systems, or drives on our roads, or takes advantage of any type of Medicare or other type of health care program, who pays for it? They certainly don't.

Again, it seems that they are not only spitting in the face of all the immigrants who had the drive and initiative to come here legally, but they are also spitting in the face of all those who are naturalized citizens actually contributing to society.

I have nothing against immigrants, legal and documented or otherwise, as fellow human beings. What I do have something against is the attitude that some people have that they deserve whatever it is they want despite the law or how their desires may affect those around them. Proponents of amnesty or like policies toward illegal immigrants should consider the ramifications of such policies in the light of simple consideration for the rights of those who have already come here legally, are in the process of doing so, or are citizens by natural means. This issue concerns the rights of everyone, not just the rights of the immigrants.

*This article originally appeared, in a slighly different form, as a Letter to the Editor in the Kalamazoo Gazette, in Kalamazoo, Mich.