Like It Or Not The Dreamers Are Here To Stay

This is going to make some people happy and other people angry. Won't be the first time - won't be the last. But before anyone accuses me of hating freedom, hating the Constitution, being willing to give up my rights, or any other charge that I sometimes get because I might have a different opinion than they do, please just read what I say with an open mind. I don't think my title for this piece is wrong.

From the beginning of the Presidential campaign in 2015, I have said over and over that no President, Democrat or Republican, was going to deport 12 million people who are in the country illegally. Trump has deported some and will continue to do so, but he is not going to round up and deport the Dreamers. That's just the plain, hard truth.

The federal government has been allowing people to cross the borders illegally for most of my lifetime. And they have allowed most of those people to stay by refusing to secure the borders and refusing to deport those who simply don't cause trouble. Democrats like the votes and Republicans like providing cheap labor to the companies that donate to them. Letting them stay has been a win/win situation for the politicians but not so much for American citizens.

Think politicians care about your opinion on illegal immigration?"Kate's Law," HR 3004, named after Kate Steinle, who was murdered by an illegal alien in San Francisco in 2015, passed the House in 2017 and the Senate has yet to vote on it. Kate's Law would increase the penalties for crimes committed by people in the country illegally. Given the tragedy of Miss Steinle's untimely death, how could the Senate just ignore this legislation? But that's what's happening.

The State of California tried Kate's murderer and gave him a slap on the wrist. He was convicted only of being in possession of a weapon as a convicted felon.Trump is deporting criminals as often as he can and trying to find a positive solution for the young people who were brought here as children and who have grown up in the United States. They may or may not know the native language of their parents but they certainly don't know the countries of their parents well enough to be suddenly shipped there. And that's not their fault.

As much anger and even hatred as I've seen from the Democrats about various things (white nationalist marches, gun control, abortion rights, etc.), I'm seeing much of the same vitriol from the right about a path to citizenship for Dreamers. "Deport them at any and all cost" seems to be the rallying cry for the hard right. But I'm telling you - like it or not, that's not going to happen.So why not a reasonable alternative? Otherwise things will remain at the status quo and our illegal immigrant population will continue to grow.

Trump is willing to work with the Dreamers on a pathway to citizenship rather than blanket amnesty and instant citizenship in exchange for a wall, the end of chain migration and the end of the Visa lottery. I have no real problem with that. Part of the deal should be that all Dreamers wishing to stay must be fluent in English, must have a clean record, and must complete certain requirements, such as file paperwork with the federal government requesting to stay and become citizens. Those who don't request citizenship should be deported.

I know I'm going to be attacked by some for this opinion but I would ask those who attack: "If deportation is not going to happen what is your "other" solution for the problem?" Because it's not going to go away by itself.If your solution is to vote Trump out of office in 2020 and replace him with someone who will deport all the illegals, including the Dreamers, I say good luck with that. We're already lucky Trump beat Hillary, particularly since the Clinton campaign tried every dirty trick in the book to win.

Dreamers are here to stay - even those who are rude, demanding and all around ignorant. (And I'm not defending those who march carrying the Mexican flag and burn the American flag. As far as I'm concerned, they can be deported. No problem.) The sooner people figure out that Dreamers are not all going to be deported the sooner things can move forward. I am for the rule of law. But when the federal government ignores the law for decades it's not the fault of the people who were brought here as children through no fault of their own. Want to blame someone for the Dreamers and the illegals? Blame Washington for the last 50 to 60 years. I, for one, will be happy to see the issue settled once and for all.