Equal Is As Equal Does

Written October 07, 2005 The Monday morning Aurora Beacon News headline over the picture of shouting protesters proclaimed, "March for Equality". The reporter heard and passed along their demands, "We want to be equal!" and "We want to be legal!" I trust that I was not the only one who read this and thought..."How bold, to be breaking the law and then demand additional privileges." If you follow the law and I break the law, we are not equal by our actions. If you immigrate legally and I immigrate illegally, we are not equal. Forty years ago, John F. Kennedy cautioned us that full confidence in the integrity of American law is essential. He said, "Our nation is founded on the principle that observance of the law is the eternal safeguard of liberty, and defiance of the law, (in this case, immigration law) is the surest road to tyranny. Even among law-abiding men, few laws are universally loved, but they are uniformly respected and not resisted." "Americans are free, in short, to disagree with the law but not to disobey it&For no man however prominent and powerful, and no mob however unruly and boisterous, is entitled to defy a court of law." Therefore, "observance of the law" is the ground upon which we pitch our tent for domestic tranquility and social peace. Many of my constituents shake their heads, call in to radio talk shows, and even write letters to newspapers wondering out loud "How have we gotten so far away from enforcing the immigration laws at our borders?" The more cynical among these fellow citizens say that Democrat leaders look the other way because eventually illegal immigrants will become "easy votes" as more and more benefits are conferred. And, they say that Republican leaders look the other way because illegal immigrants are "cheap labor", in some cases even exploited because of their vulnerable status. But, the great majority of my constituents stuck in the middle recognize that, in the end, they are paying for this massive wave of immigration. The Associated Press reported on 9-27-05, that according to the Pew Hispanic Center, "Illegal immigrants are increasing despite tighter border security and now outnumber foreigners moving to the United States legally." Although it is true that most illegal immigrants come to work and in many cases pay taxes, they do not pay enough taxes to support even two children in public schools at $7,800 each, or free medical care at emergency rooms, or the effect on diminished wage rates and employment for legal residents, or law enforcement and prosecution for the few who commit crimes. There used to be unique benefits of U.S. citizenship, however these are now being eroded by people and special interest groups who advocate merely taking what does not belong to them under the law. In the more rural areas in my district, the expression goes "...Why buy the cow, if you get the milk for free?" Illegal immigration is neither compassionate nor a moral "means justified by the end" for those who are exploited by those who trade in their misery, nor fair to current citizens and legal residents of this country. I respectfully call upon members of the Democratic Party in my area and in Chicago who control the entire process of state government in Springfield to co-sponsor and pass with me SB1356 which authorizes the bi-partisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability to merely study both the contributions and costs of illegal immigration in Illinois. I have been denied the right to even present this legislation by the ruling majority for the past three (!) years. When we discuss "Equality" and even justice, I agree with U.S. Senator John Cornyn, Chairman of the Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship Subcommittee, "Immigration reform must be comprehensive and address both enforcement and improved avenues for legal immigration." Amnesty, as we saw over twenty years ago, is not the answer.