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You make the same mistake as the article. I might think it would be good if I could grow pot in my backyard, but that doesn’t mean I think I should not get arrested if I grow pot in my backyard.

I think we should change the law regarding the treatment of children of illegals. I don’t think we should do it the way Hatch wanted to, I didn’t support the DREAM act as it was proposed, and I certainly don’t support Obama acting unconstitutionally.

I do think that it is stupid to have a law that requires us to spend time and money deporting these kids. I would like to see us deport the illegals that come here for no reason other than to make money to send back to their homelands, who could care less about our country and our culture, and would skirt the laws and our tax system and seek to change us into something more like their own hellholes.

But the children we are talking about don’t generally fall into that category. These are kids who, for whatever reason, we decided to allow to live here in our country, to teach at our schools, to integrate into our society. And then, when they turn 18, we then expect to catch them, try them, and deport them back to a place that is not their home.

Imagine if tomorrow you were told that your parents were here illegally, and that you were going to be sent to Bolivia. I’m sure this isn’t reality, but imagine how you might integrate yourself into Bolivia, to earn a living, to find a spouse, have children, raise a family, in a land where you know nobody, speak none of the language, have no idea of the culture.

It’s not OUR fault these kids are in this situation. But they aren’t exactly criminals either; as minors, they had little choice in where they lived, they couldn’t leave their parents and go home. They couldn’t turn their parents in — the government wouldn’t do anything anyway — they let the kids and their parents stay unless they commit a crime, and they give the kids free education.

SO they grow up in our culture, with american friends, speaking our language, wearing our clothes, going to our churches and our schools, maybe even getting jobs in our stores although that is a bit problematic for them. Then they turn adult.

As adults, they have a right to apply for a student visa. However, under current law, it takes a lot of hoop-jumping to get one if they are located in the country already. It would be easy if they just went “home”, except they have no home in their “home country”.

If they did, and they went home, they’d most likely get student visas, because we don’t restrict them much. Then, if they did well and graduated, they would likely qualify for H-1B visas, if they were in any fields we accept for that; they might even get green cards outright, since they would be precisely the kind of person we would WANT to let immigrate into our country — people who respect and appreciate America, speak our language, and have a solid education.

And in fact, we rarely deport these kids. What Obama is doing in reality is almost nothing — he’s trying to take political credit for the practical reality. Unfortunately, doing so is both illegal and uncosntitutional; that we don’t enforce every law to the maximum extent possible is a fact of life without unlimited budgets; but you can’t just announce that you are ignoring hte law.

But just because Obama is breaking the law doesn’t mean we shouldn’t discuss a way to handle this situation that makes more sense.

I know there are arguments that changing this law might encourage more illegals. I doubt a family with a 2-year-old is coming here illegally simply because they think 16 years later their kid could get a green card. Worse, I don’t like laws that stop something that makes sense because it might encourage bad behavior. Let’s enforce our actual laws against illegals. Let’s send these people home when they get here with their 2-year-old.

BTW, in a majority of these cases, the parents were not illegal when they came. They were here on their own student visa, or a work visa. They lived here legally, and at some point became illegal, usually because they either couldn’t renew their visa, or a legal change scared them into worrying that if they re-applied, they might get rejected and thrown out. Keep in the shadows, and don’t get caught.

So yes, the children are now illegal, because the parents are illegal, but nobody started that way, and in a world with 12 million illegals, I think the last thing we need to worry about is the americanized children of parents who have outlasted their visas.

BTW, I am totally opposed to granting anything to the FAMILIES of these children. That’s part of the problem with the proposed dream act, once the kids have their green card, they can then get their parents in legally. Let’s make each kid stand on their own, and not do this chain migration crap.

Also, when they finish college, if they don’t have a marketable skill, deport them.