It Washes Off in the Rio Grande

Some are estimating that as many as one million people—roughly one for every twelve illegals—will be protesting today in what are calling a national day of action for "immigrants' dignity."

Thousands of demonstrators wearing white T-shirts and waving signs and American flags filled the streets of an immigrant neighborhood Monday for the first of dozens of marches planned in a national day of action billed as a "campaign for immigrants' dignity."

The two-mile Atlanta march was in support of immigrant rights nationally as well as in protest of state legislation awaiting Gov. Sonny Perdue's signature. If signed, it would require that adults seeking many state-administered benefits prove they are in the country legally.

Carlos Carrera, a construction worker from Mexico, held a large banner that read: "We are not criminals. Give us a chance for a better life."

Dignity?

To borrow from Inigo Montoya in The Princes Bride, "I do not think that word means what they thinks it means."

Dignity, according to the relevant part of the entry in the Free Online Dictionary, is:

1. The quality or state of being worthy of esteem or respect. 2. Inherent nobility and worth: the dignity of honest labor. 3. a. Poise and self-respect. b. Stateliness and formality in manner and appearance.

Dignity, it seems fair to say, is something that you either have, or something you have not. You cannot impart an inherent quality; it is present, or it isn't. Dignity can be lost and regained, but it is not something anyone else can bestow upon you.

Illegal immigrants have no dignity because they know that no matter how much they deny it, they are criminals, each and every one, without exception. You may not like that label, Carlos Carrera, but is still the truth. You run from problems in your own country instead of finding a way to make your own nation better, and leach off American citizens that which is not rightfully yours to take.

Illegals don't take tax dollars from America's rich, they steal it from America's poor, robbing the weakest in our society of what we have set aside for them. They are criminals for crossing our borders against our laws. They are criminals for stealing services allocated to our poor. I have heard of honor among thieves, but never dignity. Illegals have no dignity, and deserve no respect.

Do you really want dignity, illegals? Go back to your home countries. Make yourselves worthy of respect by reforming your corrupt governments, instead of trying to undermine ours. If you do come here, do so legally. Follow our laws. Respect our traditions and our cultures, and you will find that respect reciprocated. Disrespect us, demanding by the hundreds of thousands what is not your to demand, only hardens our hearts to your transgressions.

All twelve million illegals can protest for dignity, but dignity is not something that can be given to criminals.