Many Americans have views on immigration, even though their lives may have been relatively untouched by it. I say relatively untouched, because the flood of illegal aliens into this country in the last few decades has affected us all adversely.

My own position is informed by a couple of experiences that are not shared by the majority of American citizens. First, I have been an immigrant, not in America, but in Canada. Therefore, I have more personal experience of immigration process than many Americans. Second, my wife and step-daughter are both immigrants, and that has made me painfully aware of the immigration process in this country.

Most government processes proceed at a snail's pace, but immigration is a process that is glacially slow, in America. Each small step inviolves the filing of yet another form, with yet another filing fee, and generally requiring stacks of supporting documentation. This is the process that all immigrants to this country must learn to accept.

Illegal aliens are not immigrants. Immigration is a legal process, and illegal aliens are not participants in that process. They are, by definition, criminals.

There are those who point out, repeatedly, that being here illegally is only a misdemeanor. True enough. However, any illegal alien who works in this country for pay is a felon. Again, by definition, illegally obtaining fraudulent documentation, whether a driver's license, a Social Security card, or any other piece of what is ordinarily considered legal identification, constitutes a felony, in jurisdictions with which I am familiar.

Illegal aliens are felons. Not only have they committed felonious acts in the acquisition of fraudulent documentation, but again, in the act of using those documents for fraudulent purposes. And each day that they continue to work, they commit a new felony. It is in this context that I cannot accept any form of amnesty, regardless of any euphemisms applied by the panderers-in-office.

Deportation is not necessary. We have heard very often of late that it is impractical to deport the millions of illegal aliens who now call our country home. But this is a specious argument, as there is no need to deport any of these folks. Three critical changes are needed, and once made, the result will be the departure of nearly all illegal aliens.

1. Make it uneconomic for employers to hire illegals.
2. Eliminate all subsidized medical care for illegals and their families, apart from (true) emergency care. Also eliminate in-state tuition for children of illegals -- offer them, instead, the tuition paid by international students.
   
3. Eliminate automatic citizenship for children born to illegals in this country.

These are not extreme measures! Hiring illegal aliens is a crime; it simply hasn't been suitably punished. Many Americans (we keep being told) cannot obtain a wide range of medical services because they cannot afford medical insurance. So why should we provide such services to illegal aliens? Similarly, there are children of American citizens who are unable to attend college, because they cannot afford the tuition. Why, again, should we facilitate in any way the attandance of the children of illegals? Finally, when the 14th amendment was passed, it was focused on correcting wrongs that had been done to slaves; no one anticipated, in the drafting of that amendment, that it would ever be used as the platform for an invasion from Mexico.

A country that cannot control its borders will cease to exist. This is fundamental. Make sure your elected representatives hear you reminding them of that critical reality.