Why Do We Care If Immigrants Are Legal?

Last night I watched the local news and after the crime report which always starts things off, there was a story about a ceremony at City Hall, held appropriately on July 4th, where 61 men and women were sworn in as American citizens.

Since their citizenship also included children, it was estimated that the United States had gained at least 100 legally established American residents just in this one town.

It was also noted that these new Americans came from 39 different countries, which means we were adding a group of new citizens from virtually all over the globe.

Believe it or not, I may have been the only person watching the TV station who didn’t feel the slightest bit of pride or contentment as I watched the ceremony unfold.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not in any way against immigration. My mother was born overseas, and my father was first-generation born over here.

But neither my family nor any other family which had an immigrant background would have to consider themselves to have been immigrants if we didn’t make a distinction between people born in every other country versus people born in the United States.

And other than saying that the President of the United States has to be born in the United States, the Constitution doesn’t make any…