Will Shamnesty Disappear the Graffiti?

Responding to an opinion piece that ran in the Los Angeles Times, Bob Harris of Lancaster wrote a latter to the editor:

Let's not forget the undocumented minors brought to this country when they were very young children.

Yes, let's not forget that their parents are to blame, and this does not obligate us to change anything about our immigration policy.

I work at a community college and encounter students who have lived in this country almost all of their lives but do not have a Social Security number.

Do you get that? He's encountering illegal aliens who are using a taxpayer subsidized higher education system when legal immigrants and citizens could be in those spots, or the money could go to other things or not be taken from the taxpayers in the first place.

One example is a young woman whose parents entered this country without a visa, bringing her here when she was 2 years old. She now aspires to be a nurse and eventually to enter medical school.

She is thoroughly assimilated and every bit an American, but she will never be able to achieve her dream.

He writes this as though this is typical. There are also millions of illegal aliens who are perpetuating a balkanized set of foreign cultures, engaging in serious crimes, and otherwise being a net drain on our system - essentially stealing from legal immigrants.

In fact, if caught, she faces the possibility of deportation along with her parents.

She's more likely to get struck by lightning.

What she needs is an amnesty program that will allow her to become a citizen without the need to hire an expensive immigration lawyer.

What she needs to do is stand in line.

How does denying her the opportunity to achieve her goal benefit America?

How does writing me a speeding ticket stop other people from speeding or getting in traffic accidents? (I've never received a moving violation, but I needed an example.) We're not ignorant of history. We know now that shamnesty would draw millions of more illegal aliens. Also, doing something that grants her permanent legal status will also grant permanent legal status to so many of those other illegal aliens who are unlikely to be like the shining example you present her to be.

Her parents actions matter, unfortunately. And they may have done a rational, even moral thing by leaving wherever they came from to bring their children here, based on how bad some of the places in the world are. But there are, and should be, consequences. Our immigration and border control policy need to benefit our nation as a whole, or we won’t be able to be the great place to which people flee from corrupt and murderous cultures.