Straight Talk on Illegal Immigration

[Myopic Zeal readers: Welcome, but Eric meant to refer you to this post above.]

Ruben Navarrete is a well-known Hispanic columnist who is anything but a hard-liner on illegal immigration. That's one reason this op-ed piece by Navarrette is so striking. Key graph:

Tell the parents [who are here illegally with children they brought] they made a terrible mistake when they came into the country illegally, and that they compounded that mistake every day that they stayed here without legal documentation. Explain to them that our actions have consequences and that one consequence of their decision to trespass across the border into the United States is that they and their children were destined to live lives that may never realize their full potential. Make them understand that, while they may be splendid parents in every other way, they did their children a great disservice by leaving them to wander in the shadows. Whether they can go to college is the least of their worries. I don't care if the children are honor students, they can be picked up and deported at any time. And now, unless there are substantial legislative changes -- like the enactment of the federal Dream Act championed by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, which would allow illegal immigrant students to attend college -- there is not much any of us can do for these children.

It's a welcome dose of realistic thinking.