Politics: Toward justice in immigration

We don't need to build a wall along the southern border, because we don't have the PLO as our neighbor or Hamas ruling Mexico. We just need (more) border guards doing their job.

We don't need to restrict immigration out of fear (for any reason) -- as if it could get any stingier. We need to remember that opening doors to legitimate immigration is what made (and makes) this country great.

We don't need to criminalize "illegal" immigrants (or those who "help" them or simply fail to turn them in), nor should we offer some namby-pamby, cart-blanche amnesty; we need to establish a fast-track program to naturalize migrants who work and pay taxes. We want to make citizens in fact of those who are already citizens in action.

Human rights aside, I don't understand why we are providing taxpayer-paid public education, welfare, and health services to undocumented persons who are not citizens and don't pay taxes.

Border-running and "illegal" migration should diminish once the government stops being so draconian about its immigration policies. We're talking about a managed or restricted flow -- but a flow nonetheless, and a greater one, that is far less restricted than the trickles and blockages that have characterized recent administrations. We want an open and transparent government, not an anal-retentive one.