Gimme a Break

The California State Senate has endorsed a walkout by illegal immigrants of schools, jobs, and stores next Monday.

The Senate says this will educate the public "about the tremendous contribution immigrants make on a daily basis to our society and economy."

How many times does it have to be said? The issue is not "immigrants." The issue is illegal immigrants. The politicians know this, of course, but play with the language for maximum effect.

At the risk of sounding hard-hearted, it would do everyone a favor if illegal immigrants walked out of our schools -- permanently. They are straining our infrastructure to the seams here in California, and I'm increasingly frustrated that our representatives, including President Bush, don't seem to care. I also don't understand why those in Washington believe any new immigration laws they create for temporary worker programs and the like will improve the situation -- if we can't enforce our current immigration laws, how would we enforce the new laws?

Andy McCarthy asked today at NRO's The Corner if we could end the debate with a simple question: Can we afford to do anything about Iran with our borders wide open?

Washington needs to hear the message loud and clear that we must close the borders. Then we can talk about what to do about those already in the country illegally.

As an aside, though, I believe anyone advocating the "reconquista" movement and returning the U.S. Southwest to Mexico should be excluded from the opportunity for citizenship.