Illegal Immigrants Rewarded

The Supreme Court has just ruled that the state of California can give in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens.

No, that is not a typo, nor is it an Onion News headline.

It is most definitely a headline that got me to look deeper, as it should every thinking person.

I have very strong opinions on illegal immigration for which I will not apologize. My feelings are based soley and exclusively on the law, not the country of origin, race, ethnicity, religion or politics of the immigrant.

They are here in this country illegally. They have broken our laws by entering or remaining here, and should be treated as such. By definition, they are criminals.

I am well aware that the issue quickly gets complex. We are a compassionate people. The question of human rights supercedes all other considerations, particularly when confronting the issue of the minor children who are illegal themselves. They were brought here - or sometimes sent or left here - and are completely innocent of all wrongdoing. They simply had the misfortune to be born within another country's borders, and to people who choose to violate our laws.

In the interest of full disclosure, the Supreme Court ruling was actually very narrow in it's scope. There had been a challenge to the practice of granting in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens; the Supreme Court ruling was simply that California's practice did not conflict with existent federal law because the tuition benefit was dependant upon a student's attendance and graduation from a California High School, not their residency status.

Perhaps I don't understand how our judicial system is set up afterall. My understanding is that a state cannot create a law that is in contradiction to an existent Federal law.

The Federal law on this is quite clear: a State may not give any post-secondary benefits to an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States. This ruling by the Supreme Court, citing California's policy of basing their instate tuition benefit on a California high school diploma, seems to ignore Federal law. 

Perhaps the challenge to the California statute was not properly laid, thereby allowing the Supreme court to ignore Federal law. Brighter minds than mine will, I'm sure, illuminate that one for us all.

Now for the back story on my immigration stance. I consider myself the quintessential American. I have ancestors who have been on this Continent since the early 1700's, and I have ancestors who came through Ellis Island. My son is first generation American-born on his father's side. I have ancestors and family members who have fought in every war since and including the Revolution that created our country. And my husband is a descendant of two of the original Mayflower passengers.

 In other words, my family and I have lived nearly every aspect of the immigrant and the American experience.

My stance on illegal aliens is not born of a desire to deny anyone the riches and abundance that can be this American life. I simply demand that anyone who wants a piece of the American pie do it legally and lawfully. To this day, there are tens of thousands of people who have active, pending US immigrant Visas, all over the world. Why should these people be penalized for following the law? Why would we want to welcome those who do not obey even the most basic 'starter' law of immigration?

I am well aware of the argument that many of those who come here illegally do so because life in their home country is so desperate that they would rather live here illegally than stay there. I am aware that many of these people truly would die of starvation, or watch their children die of disease for lack of that most basic of human necessity, clean water, if they remained in their country of origin. I am aware that I spend more on dog food in a week than they would be able to earn in a month in their home country. I am sickened by the poverty, corruption, oppression and war that creates such fear and hopelessness for millions all around the world.

However, this is nothing new, as sad as that is to say. Even the most cursory scan of world history of the past several hundred years will tell you only the names have changed, the realities of these conditions have been a constant, for one people or another.

I am highly offended by those who protest and demand change in our laws, in the defense of these illegal aliens. My question has always been, rather than come here illegally, then demand we change our laws, why not put that energy into changing life in your home country so that neither you nor anyone else needs to make that desperate decision? I am aware that the sole desire of the vast majority of illegal aliens is simply for a better life for themselves and their children. As a parent, I understand the sentiment. As a law abiding citizen, I question the method and the parent's understanding of what it is to be American. 

The Statue of Liberty stands tall, proclaiming "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free", and I am proud and inspired by the sentiment. I am a direct descandent of some who heard that call and answered. I am ever cognizant of the fact that my being American is nothing more than an accident of birth, and something for which I am eternally grateful.  I believe it is my duty as the recipient of such great good fortune to safe guard the principles which so many have yearned, bled and died to create and defend.

I absolutely believe with all my heart and soul that this is the greatest country in human history. I applaud the sentiment that 'Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the rest' each and every day of my life. I am so very sorry and sick in my soul for the conditions in which most of humanity tries to exist.

But I do not believe the answer is to reward those who do not chose to follow our laws with preferential access to post-secondary education.