The chattering welfare classes who believe that everyone owes them something are on the march. And what is worse is that there is no shortage of pandering politicians and media types willing to feed their delusional, me-centered paranoia that they "deserve" something based on the mere fact that they exist at a certain place at a certain time and consume oxygen.

Every day for decades news about illegal aliens has crossed the wire. But one thing has changed in this news recently. It used to be that the news about criminals who jump the border illegally, steal identities, and skirt numerous other laws was dominated simply by the crimes they were committing. Now those stories still exist and are getting more play than ever (and rightfully so) but they are joined by a spattering of stories about how now these criminals are living in fear of being caught and punished and how they and their enablers are upset about it.

Well Halle-freaking-luiah!

What a novel concept! Law-breakers living in fear?

The immigration debate in America lately has degenerated to a lot of whining by those who are not happy mainly because they are here illegally and committing numerous other crimes to remain here illegally. All this is of course above and beyond their first illegal act of jumping the border. This whining is mostly about how they might actually be held accountable for their actions. Joining them in their noisy complaints are others who seek to tap into this group of poor and suffering (sarcasm intended) scofflaws for social and political power.

What always seems to be lost in the argument within a minute or two however is that these people are here illegally; that they are law-breakers. And why shouldn't it be lost? After all, if illegal aliens and their supporters had to deal with reality the argument might not turn out in their favor.

Take for example Chappaquiddick Teddy Kennedy and his pandering to illegal aliens who were caught after a raid on a New Bedford factory. He likened the results to the "tragedy and human suffering" that ensued in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

On one hand he is right. Because the "tragedy and human suffering" that resulted from the raid, much like that of Hurricane Katrina, was mostly the result of a bunch of people that did whatever they wanted and then complained after their own decisions (like staying in New Orleans despite days of warning) caused them to suffer.

But Teddy Kennedy was not referring to the fact that like Hurricane Katrina, much of the suffering these poor souls were going through was of their own doing. Nope. That would require promoting self-reliance. And we cannot have that.

Instead he is focusing on the fact that those arrested were separated from their families and in some cases their poor little children. Promoting the victimization of these people Kennedy said, "These men and women had not harmed anyone. They were victims of exploitation, forced to work under barbaric conditions by an employer who knew that they could not afford to complain. Their children, many of whom are United States citizens, had done nothing wrong at all. None of them had any reason to expect that the Department of Homeland Security would decide to make an example out of them."

What? To listen to old Teddy you might believe that these people were snatched from their homes in their native countries by the evil American corporate machine and chained to their workstations by maniacal slave masters only to be harassed by the federal government. But the truth is that each of these people who are in the country "illegally" made a choice to violate U.S. immigration laws.

Say it with me boys and girls - they are "illegal aliens". They broke the law.

If we adopted the Teddy Kennedy approach to punishing criminals we would have to consider letting any criminal that violated any law off the hook if they have a child that might suffer should they be taken away and punished. What an insane concept.

In another case, the ACLU is still out and about harassing cities like Hazelton, Pennsylvania that simply don't want people that have violated United States immigration law in their city. The ACLU is trumpeting the claim that it is only the federal government that can enforce immigration laws and that anyone else that should even think about helping to enforce immigration laws (by making life difficult for those that are in the country illegally) is somehow violating the Constitution or civil rights.

Even a cursory review of the Constitution shows that Congress is granted the authority to set immigration laws. And if the law says that someone who does not follow current immigration law is in the country illegally would not a city, state, township or other such government that did not ensure such laws were followed be aiding and abetting criminals?

That's too complicated of an argument for the ACLU apparently. Again, those that broke the laws to get here are portrayed as helpless victims instead of what they really are.

It's important to note that cities like Hazelton are not creating immigration law and are not violating the powers of Congress on this issue. What they are doing, as Dan Stein of FAIR neatly states, "is doing nothing more than setting rules for how employers and landlords in the city do business, which is precisely the function of local governments".

Well good gosh golly! You mean to tell me that they want to make sure that those under their jurisdiction don't violate immigration law by hiring people that hopped the border illegally? Yet another novel concept!

To take the ACLU's approach to its logical conclusion would be to say that citizens have no responsibly or even authority to report or help prevent a crime because "that's someone else's responsibility." Will the founding fathers please call their offices? Because this thinking is so far out in left field that I am certain they would get a good chuckle. And then possibly after that chuckle they might like to give the ACLU a good talking to with the business end of a musket.

Say it with me again folks - these are "illegal aliens".

And ultimately all this cracking down on people that are breaking the law seems to be actually having an effect as evidenced by the attitude of illegal aliens in a San Rafael neighborhood. In that area illegals are so scared of recent ICE raids that they won't even come out of their homes. But to listen to Principle Juan Rodriguez talk about what is happening it is "a war of terror in this community" perpetrated by evil Americans.

Ok, one more time folks, especially you Mr. Rodriguez - these are "illegal aliens!"

Illegal aliens being too scared to even come out of their homes is a good thing as far as I am concerned. Eventually they will have to go back to where they came from if they can't make it work for some employer that is looking the other way and make enough money to support their continued flaunting of the law.

It's easy to get wrapped up in the stories of human suffering that occur when people make choices that put them in a precarious position. Like when they chose to come to the United States illegally. But what we cannot lose sight of, lest we become a nation too afraid to actually punish those that break the law, is that these people have put themselves in this ugly situation willingly. Oh, and the fact that they are here "illegally" should not be lost either. Just wanted to remind you of that.

It would be wonderful if anyone that wanted to come to the United States could just simply come here. But the reality of it is that if such a policy were implemented America would be flooded with every conceivable person both good and bad, both productive and lazy, from every country on the face of the Earth. So we set limits.

And those limits and current immigration are hardly able to be called "racist" as some have implied considering that in 2005 the countries with the highest rates of legal immigrants were Mexico, India, China, the Philippines, Cuba, Vietnam, the Dominica Republic, and Korea (source: Office of Immigration Statistics). In fact you have to go to number ten on the list to find a country that is predominantly "white" and that is the Ukraine.

Hey, I know that people want to come to America. It's a great place. And I also know that there are many politicians that would love all sorts of people to come here too for various nefarious reasons. But the facts are that there is a line and it is a line that the Constitution clearly spells out and that we are allowed to set and that is reasonable.

So if you want to come here get in line. Show us that you can respect reasonable and just laws and we'll be happy to consider having you join us. Otherwise you probably do not have the "right stuff" that we are looking for to help make this country greater than it already is.

The last thing we need are more people who believe that they can create their own reality where they can do whatever they want and then blame everyone else for the decisions they themselves made. Trust me; we have plenty of those types already.