Give us FREE health care, jobs – no taxes, house, food. You OWE us America. – Phoenix May Day demonstration [Note that America is “you,” not “us”]

It’s just obvious you can’t have free immigration and a welfare state. − Milton Friedman, Nobel laureate in economics

Ten percent of U.S. adults are not proficient in English. – News report

Following their teachers’ example, hundreds of “diverse” Colorado high–school students walk out of class to protest curriculum that promotes citizenship and patriotism. – News report

Human trafficking at border widespread, including rape and forced prostitution. (“Yes, there was duct tape.”) – News report

 Texas sheriff reports Qurans and Muslim-style clothing found near border. – News report

Border crossers come from Afghanistan, Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. – News report

Terrorists may be operating in Ciudad Juarez, across Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas. – News report

45 states refuse to give voter rolls to federal commission, making it impossible to detect how many noncitizens voted in presidential election. ‒ News report

To paraphrase Milton Friedman: Open borders, or a welfare state − choose one, or better yet choose neither, but you can’t have both. Democrats are trying to choose both. But just because liberal theoreticians can imagine something, that doesn’t mean it is possible, much less desirable.

Liberal economists tell us that illegal immigrants are a boon to the economy. Then why is California, which has the most illegals, not incredibly prosperous instead of just back from the brink of bankruptcy? If illegals do work Americans won’t do, why do some California areas have an unemployment rate approaching 40%, and the agricultural Central Valley among the poorest areas in the nation?

Throughout the Southwest, public schools, public hospitals, social services, jails, and prisons are overwhelmed. Yet Democratic politicians tell us that we will be able to provide more services to more recipients at less cost. What have they been smoking?

If you take 10 to 20 million illegal immigrants – or whatever the true number may be – and you push them to the front of the line, ahead of all those who are waiting patiently, and you offer them a “fast track” to legal status, what do you call it? Call it anything you like. Call it salsa dancing. But if you forgive and forget the fact that people broke the law, and you compound the error by offering them a favor that is not offered to those who followed the law, that’s amnesty.

African Americans are also being expelled from their rightful places in line. The slaves were freed in 1865, and ever since then, black Americans moved slowly forward through lynching, segregation, and discrimination. And now, after all these years, they finally got to the front of the line. But their liberal “friends” allow Latino immigrants to jump the line. These “friends” woo Latino voters, while forgetting black voters – whom Democrats take for granted.

The word amnesty is akin to amnesia. It means forgetting – in this case, forgetting that something illegal was done, as well as forgetting those who have been waiting patiently in line. Some people believe that’s what we should do. I believe it is not. But in any case, we should call it what it is. It isn’t “reform.” It’s amnesty.

Still, the real problem isn’t that this is amnesty. The real problem is that is the second amnesty. In 1986, about 3 million illegal aliens were granted amnesty, with two promises − that strict enforcement at the border and at job sites would follow, and that this would be the only amnesty. Both promises were broken. Enforcement was spotty at best, and now we are confronted by a second amnesty.

This time we are asked to grant amnesty to an estimated 10 to 20 million illegal aliens. And we are being offered the same promises – that strict enforcement at the border and at job sites will follow, and that this will be the last amnesty. You might think I am complaining that people will again believe these false promises. No, I am complaining that nobody will believe them.

One amnesty was bad enough. But two amnesties would effectively repeal the immigration law. Repeatedly bypassing a law nullifies it. What difference will it make what the law says, if nobody believes it will be enforced? Clearly, illegal immigration will increase even more.

And what then? We will be faced by the same problem for the third time, except that it will be even bigger than ever. The response is all too predictable: “We did our best. We tried twice, but we failed. So the only thing left to do is to open the borders completely. Welcome to the North American Union. Para español oprima el uno. For English press 2.”

We cannot continue to offer generous welfare, health-care, and retirement benefits, if there is a flood of immigrants who use these services, but who contributed little or nothing to them. When you think about this point, it seems obvious. But few think about it, and even fewer dare to talk about it.

Democrats want more Latino immigrants because about two-thirds of them vote Democratic. Some (not all) business interests want more immigrants because they want cheap labor. And these interests own some politicians, both Democratic and Republican. I know this. You know this. So why are we pretending it isn’t so?

Recall the old saying: Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. The first amnesty was a mistake, though perhaps an honest mistake. A second amnesty will be a colossal blunder, but it will be an intentional one. And it will be our own fault for having tolerated the politicians who perpetrated the first amnesty. The new law is not intended to work. It is intended to fail, so the next step can be taken in dismantling the United States.

Some will call this xenophobia, or alarmism, or nativism, or even racism. I call it realism. I am descended from immigrants. So are all of us, even American Indians, whose ancestors came from Asia thousands of years ago. We use the politically correct term “Native Americans,” but there really aren’t any.

Immigration is beneficial, even essential. We benefit greatly from an influx of people with the courage to make a new home, and the ambition to succeed in it. Immigrants may be the ones who appreciate our freedom the most − they know what life is like without it.

But this presupposes that immigrants want to become Americans. This assumption was true of almost all immigrants in the past, and their children were Americanized in the public schools. But now, many immigrants arrive with the irrational desire to transplant dependency on a centralized government to their new home.

Why would they want to bring with them the very problems from which they escaped? One reason is that Democratic politicians continually defame our history. President Obama went around apologizing for America to European and Middle Eastern nations, whose own histories compare unfavorably, to say the least.

Another reason is that our schools no longer Americanize the children of immigrants. They no longer Americanize our own children, either. The very word “Americanize” is obsolete, and would be considered fascist and racist by many liberals today.

Instead, we now teach “multiculturalism,” which means respect for all cultures except our own. Instead, the students at one school were told to observe Flag Day by marching with the flags of the nations from which their ancestors came, rather than their own flag. Instead, we observe Mexican Independence Day and Cinco de Mayo, rather than Washington’s and Lincoln’s Birthdays.

Why should immigrants respect a nation that no longer respects itself? From whom should they learn that respect? From liberal teachers and professors who exaggerate our faults and minimize our virtues? From liberal clergy who call those who want to control our borders “Nazis”? From a liberal president who traveled the world apologizing for the nation he was sworn to defend? Are you joking?

Whatever our views on illegal immigrants, we can agree on one point: There are many millions in this country, with more coming daily, and nobody knows who they are. We can’t have homeland security without border security. First secure the borders – then I’ll listen to what you have to say about legalizing those who are already here. Until then you are wasting your breath.

It is difficult to discuss homeland security with people who do not understand the concept of homeland, much less security.

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