The Los Angeles Times reports a massive march in support of illegal immigration that took place today in downtown L.A., with a crowd estimated at half a million people. Now, we are sympathetic to anyone who just wants to escape poverty and provide a better life for his family. However, although many, perhaps most, illegal immigrants are otherwise decent, hard-working people, it is pretty insulting to the citizens of the United States for those who have violated the laws and sovereignty of this country in coming here to flout the law-breaking and make demands in a massive march like this. Illegal immigrants do not have a claim to the rights of citizens of this country. Instapundit may be right, that this massive show flouting the laws of this country will actually be counter-productive to the marchers' aims.

Every sovereign nation, including perhaps it must be said, the United States, has the right, and the obligation to its own citizens, to control its borders. This is not a matter of bigotry, or racism, or the desire to deny citizens of other nations any of their rights. No citizen of one nation has a right to citizenship in another.

So what needs to be done? Job one is border enforcement. Right now, anyone can come across - farm workers, day laborers, drug smugglers, gang members, terrorists - anyone. We need to know who's coming in to stop criminals from coming in. There's no such thing as a border that's open for laborers, but closed to terrorists and criminals. The border is either secure or it's not. Right now it's obviously not. Enforcement must come first.

Discussions about particular levels of legal immigration, or a guest worker program, can almost be considered secondary issues. Enforcement must come first.

Others:
Patterico
Michelle Malkin
The Mudville Gazette