Living in the southwest myself, I do see the problems caused by illegals. Working in an academic research institution, I also see what a colossal pain in the ass it is for talented, hard-working people to attempt to come and live here lawfully.

The fact of the matter is, immigration spends most of its time placing hurdles in front of people who are playing by the rules so that they appear to be “doing something”…in the meantime, those that are willing to do so stream across the border unchecked by the hundreds mere miles from where I live.

I know Canadians that have had trouble re-entering the country after visiting family.

I know a woman who had to go back to Germany b/c she couldn’t get a work permit for the time her husband is studying in the US.

I know an Asian woman who has lived in the States her entire life who was once hauled out of her lab in handcuffs…because her parents had used a fake SS# over 20 years ago.

And yet, I see different Mexicans working in the cafeteria almost weekly, and very few of them speak any English. But I’m sure all their paperwork is in order. Right.

I pointed out in a past post that here in AZ alone, 43% of crime is committed by illegal immigrants. Forget the jobs, what about the criminals or terrorists coming here? It’s so easy to come here, who knows who is here? How can we even begin to complain about Al Qaeda cells in America if millions of people are allowed to sneak in every year?

Another point people don’t think about: People have died for the right to be Americans or to protect American lives. It’s like spitting on their graves to just allow non-citizens to come here and benefit from our country without even attempting to become citizens.

When she chooses to declare legally that she is not an American, but a South Korean, why exactly should we be shocked that the legal system complies with her wishes and treats her as a South Korean?

I’m also rather dismayed by Radley’s dismissing the crime because she “only” embezzled $70 dollars. I don’t care if she only embezzled two cents; theft is theft.

Yesterday I covered the AP story of the Mexican legal immigrant who faces deportation because she was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder. I didn’t discuss the case itself so

This is not “an age of anti-immigrant, anti-terrorism fervor.” This is an age where the president and his opponent can come out in favor of illegal aliens. This is an age when racial separatists are elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and hold high level positions in state governments. If there’s fervor, it’s because our elected representatives refuse to do what we want. And, it’s not directed at the immigrants as Radley smears, it’s directed at the representatives and the system who fail to enforce our laws. As just one small example, in Texas 86% of people polled thought that illegal immigration was a serious or very serious problem. Yet, politicians – at least those currently in power – do the opposite of what the people want.

Krikorian stated facts. And, I would imagine he was not informed of this particular case or if he commented on this particular case that quote was not included.

As for the article itself, consider this paragraph:

O’Brien is still there three months later, awaiting possible deportation to a country she no longer knows and far away from the family she has raised in America.

Now, consider this paragraph from a recent AP story about a California woman in a slightly similar position:

Now she faces another ordeal – the prospect of being torn from her family and sent back to a country she no longer knows…

Pretty similar, eh? It’s almost as if the AILA or the NIF is writing these things for these people.

I discuss AP’s bias regarding the second article here. It doesn’t go into the woman’s case so much as AP’s treatment of it and their treatment of a story that will have a far greater impact on a far greater number of people: Mexico and Central-American countries forming a pact to help their citizens evade our laws and to help the elites of those countries obtain more power here.

This is NOT the kind of “immigration reform” I was talking about the other day.

I have no problems with people playing by the rules and coming here — I work for an immigrant from India who became one of the best CEOs in the semiconductor business.

However, those rules are there for good reasons — not only to regulate the inflow of new people to manageable levels, but to (supposedly) assure that they understand and absorb how this nation works, so that they know how they … and we … can continue to successfully “pursue happiness”.

If this lady had been an illegal, she shouldn’t have been allowed to stay here 20 years … yet that happens too.

What a fouled-up mess … both ways … and neither side of the political aisle has the cajones to clean it up. I wonder … if Kerry was to propose real measures to curb illegal immigration (in contrast to that smoke screen of a tax plan he has proposed), would Bush actually get tougher on the illegals?