Law-breaking is not an American Value

Law-breaking is not an American Value

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

May 24, 2010

Kudos to the Times staffers responsible for page layout in the May 20 issue. I appreciate the juxtaposition of my column “One state down, 49 to go,” with that of Lucero Beebe-Giudice’s “Immigration solutions must reflect our values.”

Placing those two columns on the same page gives a clear visual to the readers of who supports the rule of law in a fact-driven tome versus who has taken a page from Barack Obama in a hysteria, fear-mongering manner making false claims to stir up sympathies for people who have broken the law by their mere presence in these United States.

Beebe-Giudice’s use of the word apartheid is a classic move designed to curry favor with the open border crowd. Arizona’s passage of SB 1070 is not anti-immigrant, but anti-illegal immigrant – a huge difference. And as for the notion that immigrants are required “to carry their immigration papers at all times,” is no different than any person – citizen or legal resident alike being required to carry identification with them when casting a ballot on election day, writing a check at the supermarket, or driving a motor vehicle.

There is a major point Beebe-Giudice seems to have conveniently forgotten when mentioning the forgotten “struggle and lives lost to forge civil rights and equal opportunity.” That struggle was waged by American citizens and those lives lost, sadly, were also American citizens. “Liberty and justice under the law” is to be afforded American citizens and legal residents – not illegal aliens who broke the law by sneaking across the border, regardless of the reasons why.

That Alexandria should rebuke certain laws and turn a blind eye to the continued invasion by illegal aliens only serves to demonstrate this city’s transformation from a law abiding entity to a sanctuary city, which will ultimately drive hard working people from its confines to locales where their tax dollars will not be used to pay for education, health subsidies and food stamps for people who have willfully chosen to break the law. Sadly, this is not hyperbole.

“Don’t get me wrong, nobody’s defending criminals,” writes Beebe-Giudice. That is absolutely what the writer is doing, and brazenly so. Immigration may be the complex issue Beebe-Giudice avers, but that is simply due to those supporting rights illegal aliens do not have, nor deserve. The rule of law calls for people wishing to immigrate to the United States to follow a set of laws and guidelines for lawful entry into this country. Doing so is a privilege, not a right, and the more people who remember that, the safer we will all be – citizen and legal resident alike.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria, VA.