[Vision2020] "Illegals" OK only if they fight in Iraq

[nickgier at adelphia.net]

Greetings:

This article was posted on NewWest.  Attached is a cartoon on the subject "Weren't the Pilgrims (and many others) illegal immigrants?"

Nick Gier

Guest Commentary
Is the Only Good Illegal a Dead Illegal?
By Contributing Writer, 5-30-07

I read Quang Pham’s article, “From Illegal to Immortal — Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta” regarding a program on the History Channel. To encapsulate his story mercilessly, Sgt. Rafael Peralta was a Mexican native who came to this country illegally and became a Marine. He made a heroic and ultimate sacrifice in Falloujah, and his last act saved the lives of many other Marines. 

For the record, though I was against the Iraq War from the beginning, I honor Sgt. Peralta and all those who’ve sacrificed in service to our country. But what interests me about this story is not the Iraq connection or what Peralta did there per se, but rather the reaction to the tale by conservatives in general, and especially those who vilify illegal immigrants. 

That Peralta entered this country illegally is not in dispute. As noted by Clemenseando and others, “Sgt. Peralta immigrated illegally to the United States as a teenager…. In high school, he was approached by a Marine recruiter who told him to get in touch once he cleared up his legal status.” 

Note that Peralta came to the U.S. alone – without his parents. 

Assuming that illegal immigration foes would have only grudging admiration for a war hero who entered this country illegally, I looked around the web for disparaging or equivocal comments. 

I found none. The anti-illegal crowd and other conservatives have nothing but praise for Peralta. What’s more, they’ve sanitized the story of his immigration status. 
Raoul Lowery Contreras, author of The Illegal Alien: A Dagger into the Heart of America? says “Peralta graduated from Morse High School, still a Mexican citizen and worked to get his Permanent Resident Card, the famous ‘Green Card’ so he could join the Marines.” 

Oliver North writes that Peralta was “a Mexican immigrant who enlisted in the Marine Corps the day he received his green card.” 

Deborah at My Little Corner of the World, a blog whose motto is “Calling an illegal alien an ‘undocumented immigrant’ is like calling a drug dealer an ‘unlicensed pharmacist,’ ” quotes a Boston Globe story that notes, “Rafael Peralta was 25 years old, a Mexican immigrant from San Diego who had enlisted in the Marines as soon as he became a legal resident. ” 

None of the press or blog reports tell precisely how Peralta got his green card, but attorneys and former illegals relate that the way an illegal alien “clears up” his or her legal status is by paying a bunch of money to a licenciado or notario who bribes people to forge papers and commit perjury, thereby constructing a false history that allows one to fit into a particular green card category. 

Writers such as those above glide blissfully past this inconvenient truth, saying Peralta “worked to get” his green card, or simply “received” it, or somehow “became a legal resident.” 

What is this supposed to mean? Do some actually believe an undocumented person can perform some sort of “work” that will eventually earn them a green card? Do they think a green card will just show up in the mail if a person stands by the mailbox long enough? Are Jose and Maria, who’ve lived here illegally for 10 years, still illegal only because they haven’t “worked” to “clear up” their status? 

Concomitantly, is the sin of having entered the country illegally magically washed away once an immigrant figures out how to jump ahead of everyone else to get a green card? Is the guilt of illegal entry and the dishonesty required for an illegal to become legal absolved by a demonstration of heroism? 

Or is the only good illegal simply a dead illegal? 

Gila Jones is a regular contributor to TheLiberalOC, an Orange County, California blog. 
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