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Pat Gray: Don't Applaud Illegal Immigrants, Hold Them Responsible for Breaking the Law
A U.S. Border Patrol canine team stands nearby after they helped detain a group of undocumented immigrants near the U.S.-Mexico border on April 11, 2013 near Mission, Texas. A group of 16 immigrants from Mexico and El Salvador said they crossed the Rio Grande River from Mexico into Texas during the morning hours before they were caught. The Rio Grande Valley sector of the border has had more than a 50 percent increase in illegal immigrant crossings from last year, according to the Border Patrol. Agents say they have also seen an additional surge in immigrant traffic since immigration reform negotiations began this year in Washington D.C. Proposed refoms could provide a path to citizenship for many of the estimated 11 million undocumented workers living in the United States. Credit: Getty Images

Pat Gray: Don't Applaud Illegal Immigrants, Hold Them Responsible for Breaking the Law

Is it our responsibility to change our laws and our society to accommodate all the children of illegal aliens? No, this is absurd!

OK, I have had it UP TO HERE with all the lies about illegal immigration and all of the false premises and the straw-man arguments. I’ve HAD IT! I really can’t take it anymore.

Last week Hillary Clinton was at some “Up With Women” sort of conference, talking about women’s issues. During this estrogen-inspired event, a 19-year-old named “Nova” stood and told her heart-wrenching story.

Nova, for the “first time publicly,” announced she was an “undocumented immigrant.” To which, the audience applauded (granted, after some prompting from Nova).

First of all, why would you applaud the fact that someone was in the United States illegally? Even prompted?

“Yea! Thank you for sneaking into our country! We sure do appreciate you breaking our laws!”

Weird. Anyway, Nova explained how hard it was now to “empower” herself, since she came here illegally with her parents when she was 5, from Croatia. By the way, Nova is white. I love that, because it helps illustrate the fact that this isn’t about race.  It’s about rule of law and saving this country.

Nova shared her litany of grievances: “It’s been very hard because I don’t have the documentation here: to get a job; to vote–which is essential, obviously, to get representation; to buy an apartment; to go to college–so I couldn’t even go to my dream college because of that; to get no financial aid.”

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Tragic. A person here illegally can’t vote? What kind of country are we? A person here illegally can’t even “go to her dream college”?! For free, with financial aid from taxpayers? How do we live with ourselves? By the way, I am documented, and I couldn’t even go to my dream college, either.

To all of this, the former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, said:

Oh Nova. Wow. That was incredibly brave. And I thank you for doing that because it’s important to put ourselves in other people’s shoes. That’s one of the big hopes I have, is that we can get back to being a country where people can understand what others are going through and have empathy for it and really try to help each other.

I am strongly in favor of the legislation that passed the Senate. It was bipartisan; that’s rare these days. It passed and unfortunately the House of Representatives has not taken it up. And I think that was a big missed opportunity for our country.

There is so much here that I could write a book about it.

Instead I’ll try to boil it down a bit; this encapsulates the entire illegal immigration discussion perfectly.

First of all, yes, it was Nova’s parents who came here the wrong way. But is that our fault? Do we have to fix it all for her? Is it our responsibility to change our laws and our society to accommodate all the children of illegal aliens? No, this is absurd! Can we stop this madness, please?!

Why are we the only nation on earth that is expected to behave this way? Would the Serbs or Croats bend over backwards for an American child in similar circumstances? How about Mexico? Name any nation on earth, the answer is no.

It is up to Nova now to fix her situation. I don’t know what’s become of her parents, but she’s an adult now. So, Nova, go to an Immigration and Naturalization center and apply for legal status. Work to become a citizen.

A U.S. Border Patrol canine team stands nearby after they helped detain a group of undocumented immigrants near the U.S.-Mexico border on April 11, 2013 near Mission, Texas. A group of 16 immigrants from Mexico and El Salvador said they crossed the Rio Grande River from Mexico into Texas during the morning hours before they were caught. The Rio Grande Valley sector of the border has had more than a 50 percent increase in illegal immigrant crossings from last year, according to the Border Patrol. Agents say they have also seen an additional surge in immigrant traffic since immigration reform negotiations began this year in Washington D.C. Proposed refoms could provide a path to citizenship for many of the estimated 11 million undocumented workers living in the United States. Credit: Getty Images A U.S. Border Patrol canine team stands nearby after they helped detain a group of undocumented immigrants near the U.S.-Mexico border on April 11, 2013 near Mission, Texas. Credit: Getty Images

Could there be consequences? Yes, face them, that’s part of being a responsible human being. The worst that could happen is deportation, which is highly unlikely, especially when it involves a volatile nation. But, if that does happen, then go back, apply for legal entry, and then come back to us the right way.

I don’t recall Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Harry Reid or any of the RINO’s, like Jeb Bush or Lindsey Graham, jumping in to defend the Romeike homeschooling family, do you? That was a family that came to the United States legally, seeking asylum. A family that if forced to go back to Germany, where homeschooling is illegal, they would have lost their children, and potentially been jailed.

In fact, not only was there no support, it was quite the opposite. The administration actually tried to have them deported. And that was a family who did everything the right way. Now, in the end, they were finally allowed to stay, but only after being put through hell, first.

This isn’t about race. It is, and has always been about the rule of law.

When talking about the Bundy Ranch situation in Nevada, Harry Reid recently said, “This isn’t over. We can’t allow people to break the law and just walk away.”

What an amazing thing for him to say. Because we do exactly that for 11 to 20 million people every day. We allow them to break the law, and just walk away.

Let’s take on the ridiculous straw-man arguments we constantly hear.

One is that we have to give them citizenship, or at least a path to citizenship, because they are already here, and there’s nothing we can do about that. What are we going to do, put them all on a bus and send them home?

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 10:  An immigration activist holds up a sign on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol during an All In for Citizenship rally April 10, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Tens of thousands of reform supporters gathered for the rally to call on Congress to act on proposals that would grant a path to citizenship for an estimated 11 million of the nation's illegal immigrants. Credit: Getty Images An immigration activist holds up a sign on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol during an All In for Citizenship rally April 10, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Credit: Getty Images

Then, there’s this one: The border is 1,600 miles long and we can’t secure it.

How about, the country needs these workers to do these jobs and without them our economy will collapse?

Plus, they are just hard working family people who love this country and we can’t send them back home because some of them now have “anchor babies” and we can’t separate families.

OK, the first step is obviously to secure the border. It can be done, we just don’t have the will. When the president claimed the fence was “basically complete,” what he meant was, it was a whopping 5 percent complete. That’s how much of the mandated fence that at the time, had been completed. Finish the fence that was mandated by law years ago.

If that doesn’t do the job, add more Border Agents. If that doesn’t work, use our troops. To me, what better way to use our troops than protecting our border? Would you rather have the U.S. military protect South Korea’s border or our own? Please don’t start with “Posse Comitatus.” Protecting America’s borders should be the first job of the military.

As far as deportation, the fact is, we actually could deport all of them. For the most part, we know who they are, where they are, where they live and where they go to school, so it could be done. But I’m not, and I don’t know anyone who is, suggesting that.  It’s a stupid argument.

NEWARK, NJ - JUNE 13:  Immigration reform advocates stage a demonstration in front of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), office on June 13, 2013 in Newark, New Jersey. Immigrant advocacy groups nationwide are scheduling protests ahead of Father's Day to draw attention to the high number family separations due to the deportation of parents as undocumented immigrants. Credit: Getty Images  Immigration reform advocates stage a demonstration in front of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), office on June 13, 2013 in Newark, New Jersey. Immigrant advocacy groups nationwide are scheduling protests ahead of Father's Day to draw attention to the high number family separations due to the deportation of parents as undocumented immigrants. Credit: Getty Images

What we can and should do is, remove the incentives for being here illegally. How? By clamping down hard on the employers who hire them. If there are no jobs, there is far less illegal immigration; we saw that during the recession, when illegal border crossings dramatically decreased.

If the illegal workers are not here taking American jobs, I contend that Americans will fill the gap. There are just too many Americans out of work, and when those jobs must be filled by citizens, they will be.

The progressive argument that we just can’t separate families really baffles me. What are you talking about, we do it all the time! If I were to commit an illegal act of some kind, and was tried and convicted, I’d absolutely be separated from my family. I’d be in prison and they’d stay home.

Also, when push comes to shove, it is the family here illegally that decides whether or not to separate. If parents of anchor babies were being deported, they could all return to their homeland together.

Many of the illegals who come here are hard-working. So are you, so am I. Do we deserve less consideration because of our citizenship? We still have to respect the law.

Do illegal aliens “love this country”? I’m sure some do. But many do not. At least, their loyalty isn’t to this country. We’ve witnessed as much through their rhetoric, in their marches, and in the fact that there is, often times, no effort to assimilate. Many have simply come here to support their families back home. There is no apparent loyalty, love or affection of any kind for this country. They come here, take what they need and send it back home. They don’t learn our language or attempt to assimilate in any way.

In this Dec. 26, 2013 photo, plumber Ruben Rodriguez, 67 stands next to his house overlooking the high-rises of the upscale Santa Fe neighborhood in Mexico City. It's hard to remember the country before the North American Free Trade Agreement but a majority of Mexicans have seen little benefit in income. While there is undoubtedly a larger middle class today, Mexico is the only major Latin American country where poverty has grown in recent years. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte) In this Dec. 26, 2013 photo, plumber Ruben Rodriguez, 67 stands next to his house overlooking the high-rises of the upscale Santa Fe neighborhood in Mexico City. It's hard to remember the country before the North American Free Trade Agreement but a majority of Mexicans have seen little benefit in income. While there is undoubtedly a larger middle class today, Mexico is the only major Latin American country where poverty has grown in recent years. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

My wife and I recently spent a few days in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The abject poverty in this tropical tourist destination was soul-crushing. I understand and sympathize with the poverty-stricken in other countries who want a better life. But there are about 3 billion people on this planet living on less than $2 a day. If they all came here illegally, what would happen to the United States of America? It would be overwhelmed and cease to exist. We can’t take on all the world’s poor.

So instead, what if we encouraged Mexico and other countries to do a better job of helping their own people, in their own country, rather than simply accept the false premise that it’s all our responsibility? Let’s finally put the responsibility where it belongs.

Let’s take these positive steps, along with making legal immigration much easier for those who have something to contribute to our society. If you think that it’s wrong to ask what an immigrant can contribute to us, check into how many countries on earth make no demands on those who immigrate to their country.

It’s time we stop wringing our hands over how we can “empower” illegal aliens like Nova, and start wondering why we never ask them to empower themselves, by coming here and respecting our laws, our culture, our society.

TheBlaze contributor channel supports an open discourse on a range of views. The opinions expressed in this channel are solely those of each individual author.

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