POLITICS INTRUDES EVERYWHERE

Please forgive me for straying into politics again, but I care deeply about my country and about this issue. If you know me at all, you know I'm pretty conservative.  However President Obama's decision today concerning cancelling deportation of illegals raised in this country is both to be cheered and to be booed.

Children who came to this country because their parents brought them here illegally or whose parents overstayed their visas had no say in the matter.  They grew up here, they attended school here, they speak English, they played on sports teams here, they enlisted in our Armed Forces, they live next door, they're at an age where they are dating and intermarrying with our children---they're culturally Americans in every sense and that's more than our President can say about his background.  To send them to the countries of their birth where they know no one, have no concept of the requirements for work or school, could be in physical danger, have no friends or family, and will be cultural misfits seems grossly cruel and unfair to me.  The cold-blooded acceptance of this situation stinks and those who endorse it aren't conservative; they're inhumane.

Why wasn't this question dealt with earlier?  Three years have passed since candidate Obama took office with no noticeable effort to resolve this country's illegal immigration issue.  In the meantime thousands of American high school students have been closed out of jobs and colleges because of their limbo state. So why now?  Are these young people being used as political pawns to make the President more appealing to HHHHispanics?  By the way, many young people caught in this repugnant situation aren't Hispanics but represent many different nationalities.  I'm afraid I can't respect someone who has steadily ignored both the legal and the moral aspects of our country's immigration and citizenship crisis until seeing a way to turn it into a political tool.  Doesn't that show contempt for the population he is trying to court?

Every day we hear on the news about horrible crimes, stabbings, drug running, terrorist acts, etc. committed by those who are in our country illegally or who have been brainwashed into acting on behalf of some foreign group.  I'm all for sealing our borders to criminals.  These people cause the  hard working majority of foreign immigrants who simply want to raise loving families and give their children a better chance in life to suffer diminished reputations.  Perhaps because my family is extremely diverse (My extended family is represented by almost every race and more than a dozen national origins.) I can't buy into breaking up families, dispelling particular racial groups from this country, or punishing young people for the well-intentioned failings of their parents.  It's no crime to want a better life for your children and our immigration laws are at fault for not handling immigration in a more fair, equitable, timely, and economical manner. I applaud giving these young people a better option in life, but deplore seeing them used for political gain.  I wonder too when Congress, who should be the ones dealing with the whole immigration issue, will get around to doing anything useful to clean up the mess.

I object to immigration being turned into a political football.  This issue affects all of us; conservatives, moderates, and liberals.  There will be little progress made on this issue until we're willing to work together. It means their whole life to those who fled deplorable situations in other countries in hopes of finding a place where they could work hard to fulfill their dreams.

It's a matter of national security, it's a matter of human compassion, it affects our health, it affects our economy.  We need to root out the criminals and treat those seeking asylum with a fair shake.  The system needs a complete overall with toughness guaranteed where needed and a warm welcome when earned.  Accepting anchor babies as citizens is ridiculous while turning away children who have lived their entire lives here, but were born in some other country. It's time to recognize that where someone is born doesn't make them part of the family; it's where and how they're raised, whether they are natural or adopted citizens.