What is so hard to understand about ILLEGAL?

An illegal immigrant is someone who is violating the immigration laws of a country. That is fairly easy to understand, right? So, why are people so in arms about Alabama's new laws against illegal immigration? And if there are laws already in place against illegal immigration, aren't Alabama's laws redundant?

There is a way to become a citizen. It's not fast, it's not easy and it's not free. Is that the problem? Should you walk on our soil and be proclaimed a citizen? Didn't we used to call this "squatting"?

As far as I can tell, these (mostly) Mexican citizens want to come to America to have a better life. I am all for that. Everyone should have access to the American Dream. However, it comes at a cost. You must apply. You must pay a fee. You must learn things about our country. You must wait for a prescribed amount of time. Once you do all of these things, you are now a naturalized American.

You can't just come here and expect it to be given to you.

The bottom line is that so many (mostly) Mexican citizens have been entering and staying in the United States illegally so long that it has become accepted for them to continue to break the law. Some states have found it necessary to enact additional laws to support, strengthen and in some cases, merely enable law enforcement to uphold the law that has been in place for decades.

And, please, stop making reference to Jim Crow Laws in your arguments. Jim Crow Laws mandated segregation. It had nothing to do with people breaking already established laws. It was an affront to black Americans and using it in this situation diminishes both what racism did to our nation in the Jim Crow days and the inalienable rights that black Americans had all along that some tried to strip from them. Mandating that people from other nations go through proper citizenship channels in no way compares to the struggles, humiliations and discrimination that black Americans overcame. The comparison is ridiculous.

If a thief steals because he needs the money, why not accept it? If a murderer kills because his victim needed killing, why not let him do it? Breaking the law is breaking the law. Period. We can't pick and choose which laws to uphold. Illegal immigrants are breaking the law, regardless of their goals, intentions, work ethic, and all of the other positives that many possess. If you want to be a citizen, go through the process.