Tomorrow they ... what?!

By Tom Kovach

Activists that support the "rights" of illegal immigrants held rallies in various cities across America this past weekend. Logic is apparently lost on the organizers of those rallies. Rights are for citizens. Illegal immigrants are invaders, not guests, and certainly are not citizens. Therefore, to suggest that illegal immigrants have, or should have, the same rights as regular United States citizens is ludicrous.

big picture, small picture

Some people can't get their mind to grasp the big picture. So, let's shrink it down. Let's see if the same logic applies on the small scale. One night, you're sleeping in your home. You hear a noise, suspect a burglary, and grab your gun. Sure enough, there is a burglar in your home office. He's sitting down at your computer, with your bank card, shopping online with your money. Almost tickled by the novelty and brazenness of the deed, you tell him to sit right there while you call the police. He calmly replies, "I intend to."

As you call the police, things don't go much better. First, the dispatcher asks for all of your personal information — including whether you can prove that you are a citizen — before even listening to any details of the situation. Then, as you describe the confrontation, the dispatcher begins demanding all kinds of information about your gun, and asks whether you are a member of any "racist or vigilante groups." You begin to get frustrated, and ask whether an officer will be dispatched to your house any time tonight.

"Of course not," comes the haughty reply. It's late at night, and your city's police are busy fulfilling their community role by playing basketball with gang members in the housing projects right now. "A police officer would only be dispatched if there had been any actual damage to life or property," the dispatcher calmly explains. You retort, "The damage is ongoing. He's cleaning out my bank account right now." The dispatcher drones, as if reading from a card, that the burglar had no choice, because your affluence forced economic disparity upon the burglar, his family, and all the people of his neighborhood. "Well, can't you at least have an officer just take him back to his own neighborhood?!" "Of course not," the dispatcher replies, sounding startled at the very question. "He's been in your home for how long, now? He has rights. Once he's passed the 20-minute threshold, he automatically becomes a member of your family, according to the Kennedy-Specter Crime Prevention Act of 1994. You should know that. In fact, if you don't get him a cup of hot chocolate and a doughnut right away, I'll send an officer over there to arrest you for child abuse."

parallel universe

If the above example sounds outlandish, think again. Take a look around at the current situation — both in terms of legal theory, and in terms of actual application. People sneak into our country. The invaders park themselves in our communities, and promptly begin to help themselves to things — at our expense — to which they have no right of access. Those things include jobs, which seem to be increasingly scarce for legal applicants. But, those things also include education, welfare benefits, and medical care (have you noticed the growing wait time at emergency rooms over the past few years?).

Frustrated citizens complain, but are branded as heartless or racist. Somehow, we are expected to tolerate the blood-sucking, even when we begin to develop societal symptoms that tell us our own country's health is in imminent danger. This is not only economic health, but also societal and cultural health. America is in danger from the tsunami of illegal immigration. Yet, the Left-leaning "mainstream" media continues to pound us with the notion that recognizing the danger makes us the root of the problem.

the issue is not racial, nor cultural

The Left has used the emotional label "racist" in an attempt to minimize the alarm created when conservatives say that our country is in danger. Let's look at another example. If there were 15 million people lined up along our borders, all at once, with the obvious intent of crossing into the United States, then we would consider it a massive invasion effort. We would demand that the military be deployed immediately. But, because these people trickle in, we are somehow expected to disregard the sheer, overwhelming numbers. Not all of the people that illegally cross into America come from Mexico, nor do they all do so at the Mexican border. But, the largest single segment of such invaders is, in fact, Mexicans crossing our southern border. We need to enhance our security along all of our borders — to include seaports, coastlines, northern forests, and airports. One of the largest international points of entry is in the middle of America, at the Saint Louis international airport. Therefore, border security does not stop merely by building a wall. But, a wall is a very good start, and two walls (don't forget our northern border) is an even better start.

Legal immigrants, and their descendents, are often the angriest about the illegal immigration issue. Nashville is a very cosmopolitan city, and there are ethnic enclaves from around the world. I have met immigrants — legal ones — that are furious about our porous borders. They paid big money to follow the rules, gain legal access to America, and build up a business. Their businesses, along with those of natural-born citizens, are being threatened by unfair competition from businesses that hire cheap, illegal labor. Convenience store owners from Pakistan, teachers from India, and the American-born Latino owners of Mexican restaurants are all in agreement against illegal immigration. But, legislators such as Senator Ted Kennedy say that, "The American people have spoken," when the illegal people rally for "rights." What about the voices of legal Americans?

People of many cultures have immigrated to the United States, and did so because they wanted to become Americans. That is the difference between other waves of immigration and the current wave. The current wave wants to make America become like the countries that they left. So, what was the point of leaving?

My own grandparents immigrated in the early part of the 20th Century. Communism was beginning to raise its ugly head across Europe. My grandmother's childhood goal had been to become a nun. But, in 1907, her parents pulled her out of the convent, took her to a port in Poland, and put her on a boat to America at 15 years of age. During the Cold War, people who descended from the Slavic cultures (Poland, Russia, Ukraine, etc.) were sometimes discriminated against, and were accused of being Communists. The reality was quite different. Most people of Slavic descent are the strongest anti-Communists that you will ever meet. In like manner, the modern legal immigrants are some of the strongest opponents of illegal immigration. And, despite the façade shown by the MSM, this is especially true of American citizens of Hispanic descent.

the cruelest cut of all

A radio news sound bite this morning gave rise to the title of this column. An activist in Los Angeles proclaimed, "Today we march, tomorrow we vote!" What?! Can someone explain to me how any American — from any race or culture — can suggest that illegal residents are going to register to vote? Yet, the limp-wristed crowd in Washington has dared to proclaim that, "The American people have spoken."

The activist that made this prediction identified herself as "the only Latina member of the Los Angeles school board," and defiantly proclaimed that "nobody will dismantle bi-lingual education," among other things. (People from many countries and cultures have come to America, and have obtained a fine education. Only people from Hispanic culture have refused to learn the language in order to get it. I don't see bi-lingual education being offered in Korean, or Farsi, or Ukrainian, or Hebrew. Mandatory bi-lingual education fosters intellectual laziness.) Worse yet, though, this activist proclaimed that the immigrant movement would put like-minded people — including Mechistas — into public office across the United States. For those that don't know, Mechistas are activists (often gang members) that belong to the Reconquista movement. They believe in the secession of the American Southwest — by violent overthrow, if necessary — and the return of the land to Mexico. (The goal is to re-establish the Mexican border to its locations prior to the Texas Revolution of 1835. That would include all of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona — plus parts of Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California.)

There is a name for a public official (even a school board member) that advocates putting people into office that would overthrow the United States and secede the territory to a foreign country. That name is "traitor." The words and actions of that official, and others like her, provide aid and comfort to the enemies of the United States. For that person, and her ilk, to suggest that fellow traitors should be elected to office in this country is tantamount to advocating the overthrow of this great nation. That point alone should be grounds for her immediate removal from the Los Angeles school board.

The US House of Representatives should stand firm on the point of making illegal entrance into the United States a felony. Then, anyone that employs, houses, or supports illegal immigrants would be guilty of aiding and abetting the commission of a felony. That, of course, would include trying to register illegal immigrants to vote, or to put illegal immigrants into public office. If such a law has not been enacted, and if I win the election this November, it will be a legislative priority of mine upon arrival in Washington.

"Today we march, tomorrow we vote?!" I don't think so. Instead, they should be thinking, "If we march today, then tomorrow we'll get deported."

© Tom Kovach