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To the editor:

In reference to the May 13 letter from Keith Sharp saying illegal immigrants have no place in the U.S., he is partially correct but woefully wrong.

Of course, illegal is illegal. That's where he is correct. But asserting illegal immigrants have no place in the U.S. is wrong. They are here and already have a place. They are an important part of the economy. Some work doing jobs we don't want and work for wages we won't accept. They raise families, pay taxes, and are integrated in most aspects or are in the process. Integration takes a generation, not six weeks in a language class. And many of these "illegals" are adults who are already in the mainstream of this country. We accept immigrants legally, but we do not require them to abandon their culture or language. Why would we treat illegal immigrants differently?

What about an infant brought here illegally, who has never known anything except the U.S., and is now a teenager or adult? This person had no say in the illegal entry. Do we offer no opportunity for citizenship just because the parents broke the law? How about the parents of a child born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants who is a U.S. citizen by definition? To deport the illegal parents would essentially also deport a U.S. citizen who has not broken any law. Either that or the child is removed from its parents without evidence of parental neglect.

Mr. Sharp is clearly wrong in his last paragraph. If 12 million U.S. citizens committed a federal crime, I think it safe to say that prosecuting them would be such an enormous task that it would not be done. In fact, that is actually happening. At least 12 million people are committing a federal crime right now with essentially zero consequence. Despite various laws making cultivation, possession and distribution of marijuana legal at the state level, it is a federal crime to cultivate, posses or distribute the stuff.

It is reasonable to conclude that nearly all illegal immigrants came here for the justifiable reasons Mr. Sharp outlined in his letter. We must find a way to resolve this issue in a compassionate way that lives up to the ideals of this country, especially as deporting 12 million people is a pipe dream, and to do it would wreck the economy. We must cease the unrealistic holier-than-thou blather about this issue and get down to the business of constructing a realistic solution.

Charlie I. Francis,

Becket

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Letter: Find realistic solution to illegal immigration - Berkshire Eagle (subscription)