one little word makes all the difference

Have you noticed that whenever the media reports on "immigration", they always leave the word "illegal" out? It has been driving Jay and I crazy. I have no problem with immigration--I do have a problem with illegal immigration, and I have no shame in admitting that. We have channels for legal immigration and if a person chooses to instead cross the border illegally, they have to deal with the consequences of that. But usually you hear illegal immigration lumped in with legal immigration and frankly, that isn't fair to the folks that decided to follow the rules when entering this country.

When you are here illegally, chances are you aren't paying taxes, carrying health insurance or driving with a valid license. How is that fair? Why should we rally for these people? I get that they leave their home country for good reasons but how does that make it okay for them to be here illegally? I was watching footage of one of the rallies that took place yesterday and the one sign said "Stop tearing families apart". I just hate that--the ploy of making you feel like a terrible person for just expecting that immigrants are held to the same standards you are.

We are not the only country that doesn't allow people to just flow in and out of the country. This is why there are passports, work visas, travel visas, etc. But for some reason we are expected to just allow people to flout our laws and then make us look like we are the ones doing something wrong. And unfortunately, it seems like we are starting to believe it.