This writer is wrong – actions have consequences

There is a woman (and I will NOT use the word ‘lady" here) that is holed up in the Adalberto United Methodist Church in the Chicago area by the name of Elvira Arellano.  Why?  She is not only an illegal rights activist, she herself is an illegal that has already been deported once from this country.  Although unmarried, she has a seven year old son that is an American citizen as he was born out of wedlock here in the US.  And yes, I point this out for a reason.

While we talked about this on The Advocates radio show this morning, I first read about it in the paper while coming out to San Diego.  I have to say one thing for the Chicago SunTimes – they are showing multiple facets to the story.  While sitting at O’Hair Airport, I read this commentary by Mary Mitchell.  Her point was that although Arellano was trying to connect her situation to the event of Rosa Parks not giving up her seat to move to the back of the bus, Ms. Mitchell correctly points out that Ms. Parks did not break any laws (although I believe she was arrested). 

Not quite the case with Arellano.  From that story:

Arellano is not a victim of an unjust system. She crossed into the U.S. from Mexico in 1997, obtained a fake ID and was caught at the border and returned home. Three days later, she sneaked back into the country and made her way to Washington state, where she managed to get a driver’s license. She met her son’s father and gave birth to her son in 1998 [note - not married -Skip]. Two years later, Arellano moved to Chicago and again managed to get a fake ID — a Social Security card — and landed a job as a cleaning lady at O’Hare Airport. Three years after that, she was caught and pleaded guilty to working under a false Social Security number.

So now you know the back story.  She even got an extension for her deportation – U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin …both men stepped in in 2003 and secured a one-year extension from deportation on Arellano’s behalf. They secured another one-year extension in 2004 and again in 2005

OK, if they want to delay it, I’m sorta OK with it (alright, I’m not at all – but they have the power or pull to get it done) as it is a delay and not an amnesty call.

Now to the other commentary – this is so wrong on so many levels that I am about to explode. 

The other commentary (see here) is by Sue Ontiveros.  She is all in a twitter about this case, but I figured out real quick that she and I do not see eye to eye on this:

Since I first heard about Arellano, the undocumented worker who has taken sanctuary in Adalberto United Methodist Church to avoid deportation to Mexico. 

Let the spin start here.  I can read the rest of the story knowing that Ms. Ontiveros is sympathetic to those that break the law.  In fact, while she does acknowledge the fact that Arellano illegally crossed the border twice, she does the literary version of sweeping it under the rug.  So what has me so steamed up?  This:

What about the rights of her 7-year-old son, Saul, who is an American citizen? We should be concerned about his rights. You start trampling on the rights of one citizen, and where does it end? 

Let’s skip the Responsibility part and go right to the Rights part, shall we? It just seems so typical for those of a liberal bent (and I certainly see more Liberals excusing illegal behavior more than I do Conservatives).  And this is what this is all about – the responsibility to respect and obey the law.  Or the lack thereof.

I am in the camp that says if you come here illegally and then have a child, that child should not become a US citizen.  Lots of other countries enforce it that way, and I think that this one should change its laws in this area as well (and if you look at it, the current law does have the wiggle room to be interpreted such this could be true).  Be that as it may, he is a citizen.  Right now, no one is questioning his rights.  No one is threatening to take his citizenship away (and given how the law is right now, he should be grandfathered even if it is changed).  So what’s the problem?

So I was glad to see that a petition is being filed in federal court to vacate her deportation.

No, Ms. Ontiveros should not be glad.  She is aiding and abetting someone who has already been convicted of a crime.  This illegal broke the law multiple times (e.g., illegally crossed over the border twice, gave false testimony to obtain and use a fake ID, moved around the country illegally [no visa], broke the SS laws by illegally using someone else’s SS number, and is defying a deportation order).  Given her status as an illegal and her socio-economic status as a cleaning lady probably means that she, as an illegal, was gaming the "safety net" to boot, costing legal taxpayers money. 

The petition says that because Arellano and Saul have no other family members in the United States who could take care of the 7-year-old if she were deported, what will happen is the United States will be deporting a U.S. citizen, too

Here’s where the spin continues.   And here is where Ms. Ontiveros wants to forget one of the most basic laws there is:  actions and decisions have consequences.  Often, wrong and bad decisions are going to involved innocents.  No matter how you look at it, Arellano, as a parent, has made illegal decisions that have adversly affected her son.  Ms Ontiveros expects us, using pure, raw, emotion to make her case, to throw in the towel and let Arellano off without even a token hand slap. 

Arellano is responsible for her decision. The hard, cold fact is that Arellano and her son do not have to be split up.  I am quite sure that if the deportation hearing goes the way it should, they would allow and pay the cost of sending Saul back to Mexico with his mom; this would not be a deportation but an act of kindness.  Or, he would become the ward of US.

What Ms. Ontiveros fails to mention that even if he accompanies his mom back to Mexico, he loses no rights.  He still remains an American citizen, with all rights and responsibilities thereof. 

Because that is exactly what we’ll be seeing: an American citizen forced to leave the Land of the Free, Home of the Brave. A child will have to choose between mom and his country of birth, the United States. That’s homeland security? I don’t think so 

This is NOT deporting Saul.  And NO, the child, being a minor, cannot chose in this case – his mother will have that responsibility (if a judge does not take it away from her).  And again, ignoring the rule of law for the never-never land of ruled by emotion is just plain wrong.  Frankly, he should go with his mom – any anger he should have should be aimed not at the US but at his mom who put him into this situation willingly.  She knew the odds and she knew the consequences; she ignored the former and now has to pay the latter.  And YES IT IS, homeland security – illegals are just that and by definition, should not be here.

Saul and Elvira Arellano are just the public faces of a situation that is a reality in many homes across the United States…These are American children who, just like Citizen Saul, worry every day that Mom or Dad or both parents will be plucked away from them just like that. This, in the country that loves to drape itself in "family values." Where is the value of ripping American citizens away from their parents?

Pure numbers does not make it right.  Just as we saw huge crowds protesting to be declared legal and to be able to vote, we have legal processes to follow.  Until the law is changed, it should be followed.  I take quite the exception to the last sentence above – NO ONE IS RIPPING KIDS AWAY FROM PARENTS! And again, let’s be honest and truthful here, it IS the fault of the parents to have put in this situation knowing what might happen.

Again, for the slow among you that disagree with me – the parents are responsible for this sad situation, not US law.  If the parents are upstanding and love their kids, they will take their kids, go back to where they came from, and come back LEGALLY.  It may take a long time to get the proper paperwork and approvals done and done right, but it will help that their offspring are citizens.  And when they come back LEGALLY, I will be most happy to shake their hands and truly welcome them to America.

Until then, we cannot ignore and dismiss illegal activity for the sake of the innocents. For if we do in this case, why not in all other areas as well?

For every comfortable U.S. citizen who tells me that, I wonder, how would you react if you and your family were so poor and hungry and just to the north there were jobs to end that misery? Desperate people do desperate things, especially with opportunity so close they can almost touch it.

Sorry, I may sound like a broken record, but just because desperate people are desperate, that doesn’t make it OK or legal.  Life is cruel and life is cold – that is the nature of life.  Yes, we can make it better for some (not all), but ignoring our laws is not going to make it better for them – just worse for the rest of us.  Allowing this to happen will not thaw my heart – it will just harden it   especially since sympathizers keep hitting us over the heads with stories just like this – at some point, I got tired of people doing just what they wanted to do – and the rest of us end up paying for it one way or another.

We are a nation ruled by laws.  Thankfully, not by emotion (although I am beginning to wonder).