My wife was brought here from Cuba when she was 10 years old by her father and had an indefinite asylum visa. She was thrown into a school in Miami that had NO spanish speaking teachers and the janitor had to translate what the teacher wanted from her. Her , her sister and her brother learned english because there was no bilingual schools back then. They ended up growing up in a foster home because their father died a month after bringing them here, and she thought she was a U.S. citizen up until about 5 years after we were married, at which time her sister told her that they had never been naturalized and she needed to get her citizenship. My wife had to go through the whole process, green card for 3 years and then applying for citizenship and jumping through the hoops to get it done. All this was after living in the U.S. for 25 years being a productive person with a good paying job and paying taxes etc.
Folks, the process of becoming a U.S. citizen is not that hard! Those who are in this country illegally choose that route for whatever reasons they have, but the key word is CHOOSE! I have no sympathy for anyone who makes the choice to remain here illegally and make no attempt to become a citizen or at least a resident alien.
The action taken by Arizona was spurred on by the fact that not enough is being done by the Feds to address the problem of illegal entry into this country, and by the murder of a rancher in S.E. Arizona by illegal border crossers. I'm not surprised that Texas is considering similar action, and I hope that New Mexico does also! Those of you who don't live down here in the border states don't really have a grasp of the situation along our southern border that is going on with the drug cartel wars just across the border, and this stuff is spilling over into the U.S. There are truly bad people crossing that border every day and if the Feds continue to do business as usual it's just going to get worse, a LOT worse! I'm a retired law enforcement officer and not prone to being an alarmist, but living only 34 miles from the border I keep loaded firearms in the house at all times, and I live in the middle of town! If I was a rancher or farmer out in the country I wouldn't step foot out of the house nowadays without a 45 on my belt and a rifle in my pickup. In the town just across the border from us in the last 12 months both the Mayor and a very well established dentist were kidnapped and executed, and the police chief crossed over seeking asylum. In Juarez, just across the river from El Paso, you see the military patrolling the city streets in pickups with 2 soldiers in the cab and 4 standing in the back, all armed with automatic weapons! In Laredo people hear bullets whizzing overhead from Nuevo Laredo, just across the river! This whole issue is not just about Mexican Nationals sneaking into the country to work, it also has a lot to do with the very safety of the citizens of the U.S., the people who have made this country what it is today. If you have nothing to hide and want nothing more than to come here and make a better life for yourself then do it the legal way, otherwise suffer the consequences! This country has the most liberal immigration laws of just about any country in the world and there is no reason to be here illegally if you want to be a law abiding, productive resident!