Op-Ed: Illegal aliens prepare to march in Washington after Obama takes office

Immigrant rights organizations are calling for a massive march in Washington the day after Obama takes office to demand immigration reform.

January 21'st is planned to be the day that advocates for illegal immigrant rights take to the streets in Washington to remind Obama of his pledge to reform immigration laws and help those here illegally become citizens as he states on his website. "Bring People Out of the Shadows: America has always been a nation of immigrants. There are millions of people living in the shadows who would like to fully embrace our values and become full members of our democracy. For the millions living here illegally but otherwise playing by the rules, we must encourage them to come out of hiding and get right with the law. Barack Obama supports a system that allows undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine, learn English, not violate the law, and go to the back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens. One such person who is involved in organizing the march, Angelica Salas, director of the Los Angeles-based Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights. is quoted as saying, "On January 21 we will be here in Washington to ask for reforms and for an end to the raids" At workplaces that have seen illegal immigrants arrested and deported. "We ask the president-elect to consider immigration reform one of his 10 domestic priorities." She also added that she hoped that reform legislation would begin "in the first 100 days" of an Obama administration. From the same article in the link above, Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, said organizers were "trying to mobilize tens of thousands of immigrants" for the march, which would highlight the vital role immigrants could play in an American economic recovery. "The kind of effort we are going to make as a country to get us out of this economic mess is going to be required of any one of us, including immigrants," said Chung-Wha. The immigrant vote proved crucial for an Obama victory, march organizers have said. Hispanics cast about 10 million votes -- 30 percent more than in 2004, according to experts-and fully 67 percent of them voted for Obama and for congressional Democrats who reinforced their party''s majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives. " Start of Rant: The push for illegal immigrants to be granted the same rights as legal immigrants without the effort and price paid by those who came here legally is nothing more than a slap in the face of all citizens of the U.S. The millions of immigrants that had to wait years to get here and paid with their own money and diligence working within the system to become legal citizens through the proper channels will be slighted. These illegals have come here with the support of activist groups and sanctuary cities across the nation bringing disease and stress to our economy and way of life. Their claims of injustice over raids on facilities employing illegals are nothing short of the injustices these people place upon the tax paying individuals that support many of these people's children and family in our schools and hospitals. Many of these illegals have come here for all of the benefits and privileges of Americans yet don't want to become Americans in the way that accommodates everyone. They send money out of the country to be spent in the very economy they ran from, They cost us severe premiums in insurance for health and automotive policies. They have brought back to life diseases we had once had control of here in the U.S. They have also brought in their element of crime that is nothing short of animalistic and reflective of gangs and militias in third world countries and have lowered the wages of millions of manual labor workers. The blame isn't solely that of the illegal immigrants but extends to the very individuals that hire them, the people that support them, and U.S.politicians and city officials that protect them from our own laws. End of Rant. With the above said.. I do not advocate the unjust treatment of illegals and I believe that legislation should be passed to ease the process of all immigrants to enter this great country but with proper guidelines that protect us all from those that would come here with communicable diseases and criminal pasts that would be considered detrimental.