In other words, it seems to me that you couldn’t look into Daniel’s eyes and explain to him why he can’t stay here. You wouldn’t want to be the one to drive him and his younger brother to the airport and put them on the plane back to Colombia, but you hope that someone else will do that distasteful job for you.

I admit the issue of illegal immigration is a huge one that affects many areas of American life, from economics, to education, to national security. I am the first to admit I do not know how to solve all the resulting far-reaching problems. I must honestly admit, as well, that illegal immigrants make a huge, unmeasurable contribution to the American economy — especially in Texas where conservative estimates put them at 1 in 6 of the total number of our workforce. I must also honestly acknowledge that they hold many of the jobs that most of us don’t want.

All in all, though, knowing there are so many things I can’t “fix”, I think I am much more comfortable imagining myself standing in the presence of Jesus, knowing that I loved and tried to educate the Daniels in our midst, than if I tried to chase them back to the place they came from.

I’m certain that economic factors are a variable in this- I’m merely saying that the economic effect of illegal immigration has positive economic effects as well as negative ones.

As for taxes, I’m not familiar with FB’s particular local tax base, but I would guess illegal immigrants pay sales taxes, and that those who rent properties indirectly contribute to the property taxes their landlords pay. Is that correct?

And if it’s really about the tax base for your school, why stop with illegals? If your schools should only be giving education to the children of those who contribute monetarily, why don’t you get mad about legal children whose parents are poor or don’t own property, and therefore don’t contribute more tax money to your schools? Why are they benefitting from your tax base…

The purpose of our public schools has been and should be to provide an education for all in order to equalize opportunity and integrate people into society as citizens, not merely to benefit those who are capable of contributing to the tax base.

A solution to the tax revenue problem would be to push for the legalization of these immigrants so that they can pay all the taxes, not trying to keep them out. (Notably, many illegal immigrants pay into Social Security using false numbers, and other types of taxes, but do not necessarily receive the same benefits as citizens, so your blanket assertion that keeping illegal immigrant out is better for the economy is unsupported.)

Are there not many situations where acting for justice and mercy-acting on behalf of aliens- may require us to break specific laws that are themselves unjust? How about participating in the civil rights movement when it involved deliberately disobeying unjust laws? Or helping slaves on the underground railroad?

Micah 6:8 calls us “…to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Mike may more clearly address “justice” because it can be defined as moral principle just as well as lawfulness. Or should our moral principle lead us to lawfulness?

The city government of FB is taking a stand. Not a stand against a certain people, but a stand for the law. The beneficiaries of this stand are the taxpayers of our city and state. The result of the lack of a stand are the US citizen children who suffer at the hands of our public school systems inability to meet the demands of such a diverse student base. The absence of tax dollar revenue from those here illegally hurts everyone, including ALL the children we seek to serve.

Mike’s sentiments are real, and I should know — I am a middle-school ESL teacher in the Houston area, and have spent a lot of time with immigrant children (and their parents). In the couse of my job, I have had many opportunities to hear for myself the stories of what life has been like for these familes, some of whom are here illegally. Feeding and clothing their children is an issue for them, but safety can be pretty high on the list, as well.

The following is a true — and not untypical — story about a family I knew from Colombia:

Daniel (who was 11 when I taught him a few years ago) was from a well-educated family who lived in an upper middle-class neighborhood in Colombia, where the homes looked a lot like my “nice” middle-class home (I saw pictures). His father had an important, well-paying white-collar position with a corporation in Colombia.

Daniel’s parents personally knew many families whose young sons had been taken by the rebel military, and they also knew that Daniel, at ten, could very possibly be taken soon, as well. It was not unreasonable to think that they would never see their boy again, if that were to happen. An additional concern was the shootings in their “nice” neighborhood, which were becoming the norm; as a matter of fact, Daniel saw a man shot and killed right in front of their house.

Daniel’s parents felt that they needed to get out of Colombia, and soon, and although I do not know for sure if the family immigrated here illegally (the schools don’t ask, and that’s fine by me!), I had my suspicions. I do know that they gave up everything they had and left all that was familiar to bring their family to the U.S. Daniel’s dad, whose lack of English was not a problem in Colombia, ended up washing rental cars for Enterprise, because jobs like the one he held in Colombia require one to speak English here in the U.S.

Daniel’s grandfather, back in Colombia, was shot near his own “nice” home a couple of years after the family came here — and the family was unable to return to help care for him during the weeks that he suffered before he died, nor were they able to return for the funeral. Daniel was fearful throughout his grandfather’s illness, and was inconsolable when he died.

I’m guessing that Daniel’s parents would do it all over again to keep their kids safe, and I’d be willing to bet that most of us would do the same for our kids, too, if legal channels failed us. If you’re not sure about that, go in and watch your children sleeping in their nice, warm, safe beds — what would you do to keep them safe from people who might come in this very night and take them away?

I’m in awe of the courage it takes for many of the parents of the kids I teach to come here, then go to work at demeaning jobs — sometimes two or three jobs — to take care of their families.

Jason, I’m sure you’re right — there is a difference between “alien” and “illegal alien”. I sure can’t tell what it is by looking at the kids in my classroom, and I’m betting you couldn’t, either.

You didn’t catch my meaning. “Our citizenship…” was a quote from sacred writ. When it comes to law breaking I am most concerned with God’s will, not our governments’.

What I’ve observed in the immigration debate is this: few people are willing to ask the “why” questions. As in, “why are they coming over our borders.” Is it to terrorize us? No. Is it to take jobs and benefits away from “hard-working Americans”? Of course not. They come because they want a better life for themselves and their families, and America obviously offers them something they cannot get in their own countries.

This is where Israel & Charlie’s suggestion of spending more money developing these nations (teaching people to fish) is a good start.