Too Old to Remember 1986?

by John W. Lillpop

A fellow blogger has cluttered cyberspace with views contrary to mine on the subject of illegal aliens.

His articles are immediately recognizable because he uses Barbara Streisand as his spell check guru. With predicttabkle reessultgs!

This old man, who shall remain unnamed, has pontificated on and on about what Native American Indians faced when the pilgrims invaded Plymouth Rock in the 1600s. His blathering can be modestly entertaining, unless one has a radio, a telephone, or indoor plumbing.

In the interest of spreading truth and wisdom, I often try to remind this misinformed codger that we are living in 2007, not 1607, and that America is not an unsettled continent.

Furthermore, the United States has absolutely no obligation to honor any psychotic notions that illegal aliens may have concerning their Manifest Destiny or retaking (Reconquesta) of the American Southwest.

The realities of 2007 are quite clear: America is a sovereign nation with defined, established borders. We operate under the rule of law, including procedures that those who wish to migrate here must follow.

Americans welcome newcomers with open arms, provided that those who wish to join us do so in a logical, orderly and lawful manner, AND provided that the aspiring residents will make America better.

Invading across our borders illegally, ignoring our laws, stealing public services, refusing to learn English, and demanding immediate access to the American Dream are not traits one would expect to find in those who would improve America.

This is true whether one is brown, black, yellow, lily-white, red, or an exotic hybrid of lavender and green.

That is the way immigration works in 2007, and it is not open to negotiation just because one can operate a leaf blower or clean toilets.

The United States is hardly alone in this civilized approach to borders and immigration laws. Indeed, I suggest that my “open borders” opponent try to sneak into Mexico illegally, and see how tolerant Mexicans are when it comes to illegal aliens.

In addition, although I can not be certain, my guess is that if this was 1607, Native Americans would not look kindly on 30 million illegal aliens invading their land and otherwise plundering their assets.

My blogging buddy also advocates a form of amnesty so that we can secure the borders and move on. In other words, this is last 30 million to get amnesty!

In 1986, the U.S. tried that approach. About three million illegal aliens were granted amnesty and tough new laws were codified to prevent future invasions.

Now, 30 million illegal aliens later, we have the same problem, but much larger and, because of the threat of terrorism, far more dangerous.

Amnesty will never work, because it is serves as an incentive to those still in Mexico.

The 1986 experience proves that we need militarized borders and merciless enforcement of our laws, including mass deportations.

But perhaps my cyberspace competitor is too old to remember 1986?


John Lillpop is a recovering liberal.