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logo    What should be done with illegal immigrants?


That this question is even being asked reveals something about ourselves. How would you answer it if you were an illegal immigrant? Perhaps you've never heard of the Golden Rule. The rule may not be the best guide to moral behavior but asking yourself how you'd answer the question if you were an illegal immigrant forces you to put yourself in her/his place, for only when you put yourself in someone else's place can you know what she/he feels like. Knowing that is called empathy.

Illegal immigrants are, after all, people, human beings, just like you and me, and they should be treated as such.

Governments that have immigration problems cause the problems themselves. A nation that does not want illegal immigrants need only control its borders. If a government chooses not to control its borders, it creates an obligation to treat the people who cross them humanely. Of course, that's difficult to do by governments that don't even treat all of their own citizens humanely. But what governments do and what they should do are two different things.

In today's world, it is often difficult to determine why governments exist. The Constitution says that our government exists "to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity"

Has our government done that? Well, it should, and anyone in a country, whether legal or not, should be treated just like everyone else. So yes, the bill of rights applies to illegal immigrants, too? The Constitution never distinguished between legal and illegal residents. It only mentions people.

Why do people study if not to benefit mankind? It has been said that, “The proper study of Mankind is Man.” Why? To improve mankind's condition, and mistreating people doesn't do that. (2/22/2011)