by John Walters

So let’s get this out there first: 1) If you read this site often, you know the animus I have toward our current president (to put it lightly, not a fan) 2) I work with more illegal immigrants than most anyone I know, more than most anyone who would be reading this, and I know from personal experience that they are the hardest-working folks I know, 3) let’s get beyond demonizing illegal immigrants as all being “drug dealers and rapists” but let’s also get beyond giving their offspring cutesy nicknames such as “dreamers.”

Okay, got that? Good. Let’s proceed….

So here’s what I don’t understand: Whenever Donald Trump or his White House oversteps or subverts what the other side believes is the Constitution or his executive privilege, the most popular refrain is, “We are a nation of laws.” And I agree with that.

So why is it that when we start discussing illegal immigration that the same folks who use that sentence as a battle cry no longer care about laws? Isn’t that hypocritical?

If you think we should change immigration law, great. If you think the sight of ICE agents deporting people who are here illegally, who have been within the U.S borders for years, even more than a decade, is heartless, that’s your prerogative. But you can’t beat back Donald Trump with “We are a nation of laws!” with one side of your mouth and then protest the deportation of people who are here illegally with the other unless you are willing to admit that you are a hypocrite. Sorry.

(I’m a Kimmel fan, but he lost me here, putting extenuating circumstances over the primary issue: Is it legal?)

I’m not sure why the Left allows itself to be morally co-opted so easily. I’m all for diversity, I’m all for people from Mexico and other nations coming here and making better lives for themselves. And we should probably make immigration for Mexicans especially more lenient, as the overwhelming majority of them are here to work and do contribute to the greater overall economic welfare of this country (also: taco trucks, yeah!). But as long as people are breaking the law, you forfeit the right to protect both them and your supposed sense of justice when President Trump obviates the law.

If I’m wrong here, please educate me.