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Illegal immigration continues to take center stage in our national debate. What is difficult to comprehend is how individuals -- many of them well-educated and experienced in law -- fail to grasp the clear principles laid out in the 14th Amendment.
The language of this amendment makes it plain: rights and protections extend to Americans and those who owe allegiance to the United States. Illegal immigrants, by definition, do not owe allegiance to the nation they enter unlawfully.
Compounding this problem is the reality that, once in the United States, many illegal immigrants receive benefits originally intended to support American citizens. Social safety nets -- paid for by taxpayers -- are stretched to cover individuals who neither contributed to the system nor entered the country lawfully. This is not simply a financial matter; it is a question of fairness and priority.
When legislators and government officials insist that resources be allocated to those who have arrived illegally, they tell hardworking taxpayers that their contributions are secondary to the needs of noncitizens.
Worse still, Americans in genuine need may find themselves waiting in line behind those who bypassed the law. Such policies create a dependent subset of the population and undermine both the rule of law and the trust of American citizens who expect their government to serve them first.
These individuals who are jumping ahead of Americans in receiving benefits of any type, are those who will be cut from the roles of receiving benefits. Not Americans as those on the left claim.
Bill Straesser
Altoona