The modern Democratic Party, run by the Left, overlooks, in fact encourages, illegal immigration because it wishes to create another class of workers dependent on the state - dependent on them. This class of people can be used in their class warfare rhetoric and hopefully as a voting base to increase their own power and extend their Socialist agenda. They offer illegal immigrants free health care, free public education at all levels, and more recently rebate checks in the economic stimulus package.

Some members of the Republican Party, in an effort to please their corporate constituents, turn a blind eye to immigration, which provides labor much cheaper than the average American is willing to work for. A dollar goes further when sent back to Mexico then it does in the United States. Other members of the Republican Party (*cough, John McCain, cough*), offer amnesty to illegals against the will of 80% of the American people. Perhaps this is an effort to seem compassionate, and perhaps it is just an effort to appear to be actively confronting the problem. Either way, its illogical to award American citizenship people whose first act on American soil was complete disregard for our laws.

Regardless of the many bad reasons politicians use to support illegal immigration, there are many intelligent reasons to to put an end to it:

National Security. In a post-9/11 world, this reason is more important than any given on either side of the debate. Some people find it hard to equate illegal immigration with National Security. This is largely thanks to politicians who support it, and signs like the one above warning drivers to watch out for immigrants and their poor families crossing the highway. After all, what’s so dangerous about a Mexican citizen coming to America to find job opportunities?

As far as national security is concerned, most illegals don’t pose any real threat; however, if Mexican citizens looking for work can cross illegally into America, then what’s preventing a member of a terrorist network from crossing look border looking to blow something up? No one wants another terrorist attack on American soil. This should be an area of concern for all Americans. Even the bi-partisan 9/11 Commission has underscored the real need to secure our borders.

Infrastructure. The vast amount of illegal immigrants currently in our country are a huge strain on our public schools, our hospitals, and our general infrastructure. They make full use of these American tax funded institutions, but most illegal immigrants do not contribute through taxes of their own. We pay their bills while education and hospitals complain they need more funding.

Furthermore, we are expanding that infrastructure to accommodate the language barrier. Many illegal immigrants come here and make no efforts to integrate. Because many make no effort to learn English, we have begun to accommodate them by learning Spanish. We teach it in our public schools now, right alongside English class - not as an elective. Even preschools have begun to teach bilingual classes. In effect, they came to our country, and instead of learning our language, they made us learn theirs. If I moved to Mexico, I certainly would not expect the schools there to teach my children English. Even outside of schools, many companies are now requiring their employees to learn Spanish.

Jobs. The most popular fallacy among advocates of illegal immigration is that immigrants do the jobs that Americans aren’t willing to do themselves, like fast food cooks or janitors. In reality many Americans will gladly do those jobs. My first job was working at a Taco Bell for a year, and I was a Janitor for 4 years. Sure, I didn’t make a lot of money, but I adjusted my lifestyle accordingly. I didn’t spend my money on a multi-story home or a flat screen TV. If the government wouldn’t had out welfare checks like candy, then people would learn to support themselves and accept the jobs available to them.

Economy. It is a huge mistake to think that illegal immigrants are actually good for the American economy. The truth is quite the opposite. A great majority of the wages earned illegally are sent back to Mexico to support family members there, which benefits the Mexican economy. Instead, we could give such jobs to unemployed Americans who will spend the money here; Moreover, we have to have a tax bill high enough to pay for the infrastructure benefits that non-tax paying illegals receive. That limits the discretionary spending of everyday hardworking, tax-paying Americans.

Amid all of the apparent problems posed by illegal immigration, a huge defense of it is that we can’t do anything now. It’s too late. Millions of them are already here, and we can’t just deport them all. Well, in Arizona, they have proven that there is indeed a realistic solution: enforce the laws we already have.

Arizona has cracked down on companies hiring illegal immigrants. According to a new law they passed, business that are found employing illegal immigrants will be given a warning on the first offense and have their business license taken away permanently on the second offense. This has caused a mass exodus of illegal immigrants out of Arizona - some to neighboring states, but many back to Mexico. In fact, the Mexican state bordering Arizona has begun to complain that their infrastructure can’t handle the mass amount of their own citizens coming back!

Again, aside from enforcing our laws to control the illegals already here, we need to begin securing our border - especially for national security reason. Contrary to popular opinion, the immigration problem is not beyond our control. It is, however, an important problem that needs to be addressed immediately in a bi-partisan fashion.