my opinion: bring a child across the border illegally, the parents should be jailed for child abuse

Robin's Commentary --
{based on Oregonian editorial December 23, 2009}

Immigration reform is in the news again, this time regarding a 21-year-old Rigoberto Padilla who was brought here at the age of six illegally by his parents and is now scheduled for deportation on December 16.Last week, he was arrested for driving under the influence.

Padilla has pleaded guilty to the charge of driving under the influence and is currently wearing an ankle bracelet. He is also working two jobs to finance his education at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

"But he's also working two jobs to finance his education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Students know him as their friend and classmate. Professors know him as a smart guy with leadership potential, whose brain is simply too good to waste. Or to deport.

Shouldn't that count for something? "

So the issue comes down once again to the law versus emotion.

On one side of the coin, supporters of the amnesty movement argued that we should have amnesty because we are splitting up the families.

The other side is claiming, "what part of ILLEGAL do you not understand?"

Everybody has an opinion on how we should handle the illegal alien issue, including myself which I will discuss later in this posting.

For example,

"Last week, Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez, D-Ill., introduced legislation that he called "C.I.R.A.S.A.P." (Comprehensive Immigration Reform As Soon As Possible). The bill would strengthen enforcement, provide a path to legalization for illegal workers, and also create a standing commission, similar to the Federal Reserve, to regulate labor flows."

The "dream act", which is a bill to amend the illegal immigration Reform and immigrant responsibility act of 1996 to permit states to determine state residency for higher education purposes and to authorize cancellation of removal and adjustment of status of certain alien students who are a long-term United States resident and who have entered the country as children.{Link}

And of course there are others who feel that we should just have open borders and just let anybody come and go as they please.

The latter of course is not practical. It would just be like leaving your front door unlocked and open to anybody that wants to come into your house.

Another argument for immigration reform is to keep families together. I relate this to the burglar that breaks into your house. They fully understand the consequences of getting caught. Entering a foreign country illegally is no different.

However, when you enter a foreign country illegally fully knowing the consequences of your actions and you bring your children into that country illegally you have started a whole series of events that affects a child's life forever.

CHILD ABUSE

And that brings me back to cases such as Rigoberto Padilla.

He did not have any choice or say in the matter of coming to the United States. Chances are he does not even remember his home country.
So deporting him is like exiling him to a foreign country. To me, that is what seems inhumane.

WE CREATED THE IMMIGRATION PROBLEM

We as a country have turned our back to illegal immigration in exchange for slaves wage labor, and we only really started to complain when the numbers grew enough to be noticed in the mainstream which started threatening our culture and language.

So we have to take some of the blame and do something about it.

Well here's my suggestion...


the first thing that we have to do is close the door and start getting serious about enforcement.

Children like Padilla who were brought here at an early age with verifiable documentation should be allowed to become United States citizens.

Their IMMEDIATE FAMILY ONLY should be given the opportunity to apply for citizenship under the INS regulations currently in place which include speaking and reading English. Special allowances of course for the elderly and others as listed in the INS regulations for the English requirement could be waived. In other words, they have to earn their right to be here by making an effort to assimilate.

Everybody else would have one year to return home and to apply for citizenship, Visa or whatever to get back in line like everybody else.

After that one year, we start getting tough on immigration. The penalties for entering the country illegally change from a misdemeanor to a felony with the possibility of imprisonment.

Employers who hire people that "do not have the right to work here" may also face penalties and imprisonment.

This way in my opinion, we are in a sense apologizing for our lack of enforcement and giving the opportunity of families to remain together.

Not a perfect solution to a difficult problem, however, if we do not do something now, the problem is only going to get worse as the numbers increase.