Immigration or Illegal Alien - What is the Difference?

In an effort to show that we can value diversity and be more accepting than other countries, the United States is currently suffering some confusion between the definition of an immigrant and an illegal alien.

Immigration:

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' definitionof a legal immigrant (or "Lawful Permanent Resident") is: "A foreign national who has been granted the privilege of living and working permanently in the United States." They can receive a Green Card. This can apply to:

-Family members of U.S. citizens.

-People who come here for specific assigned employment.

-Immigration through the Diversity Lottery - 55,000 immigrant visas are offered annually through lotteries in countries with low U.S. immigration rates.

-Immigration through the "Registry Provision" (illegal aliens who have been here on an uninterrupted basis since January 1972, even if they entered illegally, but with spotless records).

-Immigration through Investment - 10,000 visas per year are available to qualified individuals engaging in new, qualified commercial enterprises.

People from foreign countries can also receive "non-immigrant" Temporary Work Visas.

Legal U.S. Immigration has been a way for suppressed and threatened people to migrate to the United States. Most of them understood that they would not enjoy the full benefits of our society and government until they became "naturalized citizens", and were eager to do so. In the late 1800's - early 1900's they were escaping from dictatorial or empirical regimes and came in droves through places like New York's Ellis Island. My grandmother and her sister escaped from Russia in the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.

These people worked hard to become American citizens, to work for Americans or to build their own business, and to teach their kids about the "American dream".

How does one become a "Naturalized Citizen"?

People who are 18 years or older can become naturalized through the INS (U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service). Children and adopted children may acquire citizenship from U.S. parent(s) while under 18 years of age, born here or abroad. Some may need to go through INS.

Requirements: A person striving to become an American Naturalized Citizen goes through a process which can take about five years. They must show time as a continuous permanent resident within this country, have a record of good moral character, take courses in the English language, learn American Civics, and study the U.S. Constitution.

Illegal Aliens:

Illegal aliens are people who come across or sneak into our borders without seeking authorization. Many want to find work "under the table", and unfortunately there are stingy, greedy U.S. business owners who take advantage of this. Some of these illegal aliens may start out with good intentions to get away from desperate situations; but because they came illegally they never find their way through to the proper channels.

Other illegal aliens have no intention of becoming citizens or integrating themselves into U.S. society by learning our language or customs. When encouraged to work under the table, there is no inspiration to take the next step. While it could be a good thing for Americans to learn Spanish as a second language, I also believe people who want to live within our borders should learn English and how to deal with Americans the American way.

Unfortunately, U.S. laws are structured in such a way that some of our politicians have become "bleeding hearts", even toward those illegal aliens who are of criminal character or usurpers of laws and programs meant for the truly needy. See Associated Content Producer Bobbi Leder's article on illegal immigration: The Effects of Illegal Immigration on America.

There are some "politically correct" illegal alien situations and politically "incorrect" situations. For example, we allow illegal alien criminals from neighboring countries to roam free, commit crime and end up getting lesser sentences than our own citizens. But we have forced Chinese women to return home because they come here illegally to get away from the "one child per family" situation of being forced into abortions. And that's after we've kept them in detention centers until a decision is reached.

Illegal aliens who threaten, harm or murder U.S. citizens are already being afforded unusual consideration in the name of tolerance.

Americans are murdered by illegal aliens who get U.S. public defenders on U.S. taxpayer dollars. Take the 2005 case of Scott Gardner. Gardner was killed in North Carolina by a drunken driving illegal alien who had already been in the U.S. illegally for five years. It was the illegal alien's fifth DUI in that time. He was eligible for deportation each time he was arrested. Although he'd been in our computers as an illegal alien in 2000, immigration officials say they received no requests for information about him from any American law enforcement.

"The Scott Gardner Act" was introduced by a Republican representative, Sue Myrick, still the sponsor, and is still sitting unapproved today.

In 2007, after the Scott Gardner Act was voted down once in Congress, another illegal alien in North Carolina with multiple DUI convictions walked away from one day's jail time and killed someone. Imagine, if those two murders happened in one state, how often this must be happening around the country.

There's the controversial case of two American border patrol agents, RamosandCompean, sentenced to 11-12 years in federal prison in the non-fatal shooting of an illegal alien drug smuggler at the Mexican border. The patrolmen state perceiving their lives were in danger. Others say the man had no weapon and the patrolmen were out of line.

However, the smuggler, who admitted to driving a van with over 743 pounds of marijuana over the boarder, was granted immunity in the drug case in exchange for testifying against the agents. The debate rages on about the legitimacy of the verdict against the patrolmen. The illegal alien got treated for his wounds and is suing the U.S. government.

We're even letting illegal aliens dispute our DMV laws by asking not to have pictures on their drivers' licenses. Eventually, as the laws loosen, some terrorist posing as a woman in a veil will get his driver's license without a photo (President-elect Barack Obama and many members of Congress are not against illegal alien driver's licenses or licenses without photo ID's).

Imagine how this makes our naturalized citizens feel - those immigrants who over the years went through all the trouble of loving America enough to study our laws and put more blood, sweat and tears into this country than many of us who were born here.

Sources:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services: http://www.uscis.gov/.

Legal Permanent Residence (Green Card) Info: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=4f719c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=4f719c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD.

Naturalization: http://www.uscitizenship.info/citizenship-lib.htm.

Chinese Women held in American detention: Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children: http://www.womenscommission.org/pdf/liberty.pdf

The Scott Gardner Act (see latest): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-1355.

Border Patrol Agents: Disputed Facts of the Case: http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/b/border-agents.htm.

See also the San Francisco Gate: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/02/06/national/a145755S66.DTL&type=politics.