It seems like utter chaos doesn't it?  Thousands of people are coming to this country without permission, expecting to be taken in without approval.  They come in droves, sometimes with just a suitcase or backpack, often times with only the clothes on their back.  Securing a ticket to the United States can often times cost them their entire life savings.  Most leave family and friends behind and never see them again.  But they do all this in search of a better life.  Many of them are unskilled laborers, but that doesn't mean that they aren't willing to put in long hours to make up for it.  Who am I describing?

Illegal immigrants?  Yes.  I'm also describing your grandparents.  When I read many commentaries regarding illegal immigration, I'm struck by the irony of the opinions shared by so many.  There seems to be this common idea that illegal immigrants of today are wrong because "they aren't doing it like my grandparents did".  The story seems to revolve around this idealized version of Ellis Island, and how "my grandparents did it the right way".  Well folks, I hate to break it to you, but if your grandparents did today what they did 120 years ago, they too would be considered illegal immigrants.

Your grandparents didn't have to go to a consulate in their home country and fill out applications before they came here.  They didn't have to wait in line for years before they were even put on the waiting list for a visa.  Your grandparents didn't have worry about quotas that restricted how many people from each country were allowed.  Your grandparents didn't have to prove what skills they had before they were allowed in this country.  They didn't even have to learn English before they came here.  They simply packed up what belongings they could, boarded steam ships, and came to an unknown land where they knew nobody, and tried to start a new life.  Thank God they did too, because look at the country they helped build!  Look at you.  You are a result of this country's open arms attitude towards immigration.

But as with everything good, government came in to try to "fix the problem".  Over the years, quotas were put in place, mostly due to racism and bigotry, in an attempt to keep certain types of people out.  We began to create waiting lists for people to fill out paperwork never before needed.  We instituted requirements, allowing only people with certain types of skills entry.  No longer do we accept your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

The great irony is that immigrants of today are doing exactly what your grandparents did.  It's just that your grandparents grandchildren made it illegal.