I just received this excellent piece by reader Steve on the fallacy of 'Good Moral Character' regarding an amnesty for illegal aliens. It's so good that I've decided to publish it in full.

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Invaders with "good moral character"

In all the amnesty bills that have been proposed in the past, one particular characteristic included in all of them just sticks in my craw. They all have an inclusion that for an illegal alien to receive the amnesty they must be of "good moral character".

In my humble opinion, I don’t see how any illegal alien invader could ever claim to be of “good moral character”. How can a person, who has broken the law and continued breaking the law by perpetuating their presence here through document fraud (they all have done this) and identity theft (most have committed this), be considered to be “of good moral character”?

Furthermore, they think nothing of committing theft of services (welfare, medical care, assisted housing, public education), driving without insurance on our ever increasingly crowded roads, and illegally taking jobs here. Yet you’ll hear illegal aliens characterized as hard working (very hard working at continued lawlessness) and people of good moral character. As the old saying goes, “the proof is in the pudding”.

Oh and don’t fall for that “family values” ploy they use either. Many bolt from their families, at least initially, to invade America. Then, by stealing jobs from American workers, they’ll send money back to wherever they came from so the rest of the family can engage in the same crime they initially did, just this time with the help of a coyote. Family values, indeed.

But, there is more! You’ll also hear about “the children” many invaded with in tow as they crashed the border. These little illegal darlings have been given a free public school education by you and me (provided you are an American citizen taxpayer). The old “theft of services” scheme pops up again. Now, the little illegal darling invaders have grown up enough to scream and demand rights, just as their illegal alien invader parents have been doing ever since they broke in. Forget about the “in the shadows” ploy the main stream media and the Kennedy-Feinstein crowd has tried to sell you. It was never true. It just sounds good to them and they grasp for every straw to see if they can grab your sympathy.

Anyway, back to the point. Now that these “children invaders” have grown up thanks to the generosity of the American citizen, they demand the right to be a citizen (to be given amnesty) and receive all kinds of special additional educational (college) benefits. This would be, again of course, at the generosity of the American citizen, yet to the detriment of that same citizen and their children. I’ve even heard from many of my friends (only half jokingly) that they would like to renounce their citizenship and be classified as an illegal alien so they could receive all the special favors and benefits at little to no cost to themselves.

But wait, there is more to the spin that you’ll hear from open borders politicians, the illegals of good moral character and their support groups. It goes like this…”the children are innocent and shouldn’t be punished for the sins and crimes of their parents.” So, let’s follow this logic and include the “family values” ploy that our own President Bush said that illegal aliens possess with greater magnitude than American citizens do. Sociologists have long said that the person you become is heavily influenced by your environment and your values are greatly influenced by your parents. Perhaps the little darlings who have now grown up didn’t choose to invade America but they sure have been exposed to a healthy dose of crimes and lawlessness over the years by the environment provided by their parents.

Is there any wonder that there is legislation being polished up in the Senate, called the DREAM Act, because of the demands by these illegal alien minors and their support groups? Oh, and just one more thing. With the amnesty awarded from the DREAM Act, who do you think would be the first two people sponsored for citizenship by the little darling invaders once they reach the age of 21? If you answered, madre and padre…you’re right!