Jose, Can You See?

I drove to work this morning thinking traffic might be a little lighter than usual. “National Immigrant Day” looked like business as usual from behind the wheel of my car. You probably found it to be the same, too.

In the school zones I travel through daily, there were throngs of kids of all national origin scurrying to class. I don’t know how many of them were “illegal aliens.” Looked to me like they were earnest in their quest for an education, in the hopes that someday they would epitomize the American Dream.

While there is a certain amount of economic Darwinism at work (survival of the fittest, the strongest survive, etc.) there is an almost unstoppable force that drives immigrants to this country, where they beat the odds, and within a generation become citizens of a country the rest of the world both derides and envies.

This might not be politically correct or socially palatable, but the reality is you cannot stop them. America is America because this is where people come to rise above and succeed. Do we need to plug security holes in our borders?
Absolutely.

Should we send home those who illegally reside here?
Perhaps.
Certainly the vile one’s.

But those who are contributing to the economy of the country deserve a second look. At least they’re here in a quest for their dream…the American Dream that we’ve all bought into.

Might the Presidential elections hinge on this issue? Maybe. Maybe not in 2008…but I guarantee you in 2012 the tide may very well turn not on a hanging chad, but a vote cast by someone from Chad, Mexico, or Malaysia…exercising their right as an American Citizen.