Tess, thanks for the report from the field. James J. Hill is widely considered a hero by Objectivists because Ayn Rand claimed that he built his railroads without government subsidies - more on that later. The point here was that this is not a new phenomenon. Hill came to America just by showing up, as did a hundred million others. The concept of "illegal immigrant" did not exist in the days of free enterprise. It was the progressives of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who enacted tough laws to close our borders.

The first to be excluded were Asians. In his classic, stirring, and timeless dissent from Plessy v. Ferguson, Justice John Marshall Harlan pointed out that Asians are prevented by law from becoming citizens, but not from riding in railroad cars with Whites. On the other hand, a Negro war veteran could not; and new immigrants from Africa could become citizens - but not ride in railroad carriages with Whites.

Twenty years later, in US v. Baghat Singh Thind the government denied citizenship to man from India who had served in the American army in World War I. He argued that he was an Aryan. The Supreme Court said (in effect), "You speak an Aryan language, dude, but you are not White and so you are not a citizen."

The problem you cite is rooted in welfare, not immigration. Even that is complicated. Ayn Rand used Medicaid and just about everyone here went to a public school, even to state universities. Is there anyone here who does not use the Postal Service? In mapping out ethics, there are degrees of wrongitude.

(And BTW, do not say "whom" unless you can say "him.")

I would like to thank you for this post. Without proof we really are mere sounding boards. Though we know that politicians go as far as to buy votes, making illegals legal with the promise of their vote is a far quicker means of obtaining votes these days. No one whom is not a legal citizen of, our country, should be allowed to vote, receive state or federal aid, though they do. When Alabama past their, illegal alien law, counties throughout the state, suddenly found jobs by the hundreds available to legal citizens. State housing authority suddenly had vacancies in which the waiting list was drastically shortened. There were fewer people in line at the food stamp offices. Where did all those people go? The part that got my attention was how fast politicians began scampering for votes, looking over their shoulders, whispering to aids during public campaigns. While one brave citizen made a rather loud; who are you going to try and buy votes from now, those who know you, surely cannot be bought. Our good fortune was a turn over in county government. This election year should prove to be even more interesting as many locals are seeking office against those whom have only arrived due to the hurricanes that destroyed much of the area. Much of the area was owned by locals whom lost much due to crooked insurance companies denials to pay. People had to sell in order to rebuild their lives. Those whom gained office on false promises, found ways to buy out at lower prices what could not be rebuilt due to non payment. In turn many locals whom had been residents, small business owners, and farmers were forced to sell out in order to recover. The false promises made in order to gain their votes were never met. Had it not been for the State illegal alien law, much of what I have said here could not have seen change. The last time I checked this is the only Country you can move to, gain state and federal aid to receive federal money to build a business, receive food stamps, housing aid and the right to vote simply by entering that country by any means. Oh let us not forget that we legal Americans must earn a good credit score. Without it we could not borrow money to begin a business let alone have our government give us the money to do so and tax free at that.. Hmm, and what is wrong with that picture?