Every so often I see the a bumper sticker with the following text on the car of some well-meaning but misguided individual who is asserting their views that there is no such thing as an illegal immigrant:
No Person is Illegal
There is truth to the notion that no person's mere existence is illegal. However, occasionally someone's physical location may be illegal.
Think of it this way: if you own a home, and someone enters your home without your permission, they are trespassing, and that's illegal.
Taking that example a little further, let's say that your home has a spare room that you never use, and someone moves into that room without your knowledge; they're trespassing, and that's illegal.
Let's say that the person hiding in your spare room occasionally does some of your chores without your knowledge; they're still trespassing, and that's illegal.
And let's say that the person hiding in your spare room occasionally pays some of your bills without your knowledge; they're still trespassing, and that's illegal.
It is not illegal for the person hiding in your spare room to be alive, but it's illegal for the person hiding in your spare room to live in your house without your permission.
Now let's say that the person hiding in your spare room snuck their kids into your house. When you catch the person hiding in your spare room, do you let their kids keep living in your house after you ask the parent to leave? No, because their kids are also trespassing, and that's illegal.
Here's another way to think about the situation: the Trump administration recently attempted to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which prevented the deportation of 800,000 immigrants who were living in the U.S. illegally after their parents brought them into the country as minors. When this happened, Disney's CEO (Bob Iger) famously said, "The dreamers impacted by this cruel and misguided decision make significant contributions to our economy and our country. I urge congress to take immediate bipartisan action to pass legislation that will protect these innocent people."
With that in mind, here is the question that I would love to ask Bob Iger: "If parents sneak into Disney World with their children, do the kids get stay in Disney World after you catch the parents?" Of course, Bob Iger's answer would be "No," because he isn't an idiot. (Well, maybe he is, but I digress.) Nevertheless, this Disney World example probably seems silly and prosaic, but then again - so is insisting that there is "no such thing as an illegal immigrant."
Let me close with a few thoughts from one of my older blogs:
For those people who insist on incorrectly labeling illegal immigrants as undocumented workers, I would like to redirect your attention to an analogy that I saw the other day:
- If you are driving a car and you are a licensed driver of legal age with your driver’s license on your person, then you are a legal driver.
- If you are driving a car and you are a licensed driver of legal age but you forgot your driver’s license at home, then you are an undocumented driver.
- If you are driving a car and you are not of legal age or you do not have a driver’s license, then you are an illegal driver.
Make no mistake about this: if someone enters the United States by anything other than legal means, then they are not undocumented, they are here illegally, and they have no legal right to remain here. However, if someone if someone enters the United States using any of the methods that are prescribed in our nation’s laws, then they are here legally, and from my perspective they are more than welcome to stay for as long as they are allowed, and to apply for citizenship if they so desire.
Let me close with this parting thought from former president Barack Obama: "Even as though we are a nation of immigrants, we're also a nation of laws. Undocumented workers broke our immigration laws, and they must be held accountable."
UPDATE: This post is one of several that I had written that I later discovered had never been set to "public."