The United States Immigration Issue

For those of you who know me, you know that I lean toward being a little more liberal on the immigration debate. While I don't support amnesty because the laws of the land must be upheld and honored, I believe that there must be a more realistic path to citizenship in this country and that if people are going to come from Mexico, or Canada, or China, or Japan, or Albania, if they are willing to assimilate and work here, they should be entitled to the protections of our government and the fundamental rights that we all share. While I recognize that the problem that a lot of people have with illegal immigration is that United States taxpayers are forced to bear the brunt of welfare and health care costs for illegal immigrants, the problem is not to be solved by demonizing those who have come here illegally. Rather, we should reform our immigration policy as well as our welfare and health care systems to solve these problems. The reason I have become so worked up about this issue is that I received an email late last night from a former classmate along the lines that I have described. It detailed the immigration situation through the eyes of a school teacher who teaches at one of the schools where the much-publicized protests occurred recently. While it made a valid point about the costs of health care and welfare for illegal immigrants, it was couched in language of "them" against "us". It is precisely this prejudicial and inflammatory language and this way of thinking that will prevent us from coming to a working solution. Feel free to disagree with me. I know many do. But if we are going to find a solution to the problems that ail our country we must think as one, not as a divided, factious nation.