Past time to take care of our own

I would like to respond to columnist Cynthia Tucker's article on immigrants. In it, she said, "Most are law-abiding, hard-working family folk whose only infraction has been crossing the border illegally to find work."

She also said they commit minor offenses, like driving without insurance. Now let's really state the facts.

They commit a crime coming into America by crossing the border and making no attempt to become citizens. They obtain a Social Security card illegally and start credit with someone else's name. They drive illegally. Would Tucker want one of those people who are "only committing a minor offense" hitting her car?

They are not held responsible and our insurance rates go up. You also could have medical bills if you are injured. Just try to collect.

These same illegal immigrants are demanding their rights to all of our benefits, free lunches in school and even special teachers because they do not learn English. English is not spoken at home because they don't see the need for it or do not want to change.

They come to have babies here in order to anchor themselves to our benefits. They live with more than one family in a household and most do not pay taxes. They prefer to either send money back to Mexico or return to Mexico every winter to enjoy the money earned in the U.S.

I could not go to Mexico and do the things that they have come to expect. Do I blame them? Absolutely not. Our government has allowed this to happen and now it is out of control.

The answer is not to grant them the right to stay but bring our soldiers home and make an all-out effort to correct these issues before they grow any larger.

I am an American. I pay taxes and support my family and country. I would rather see my money spent insuring all of the children who are Americans and whose families need help. We need to take care of our own and we are not.

Sherry King

Elgin