As this great nation faces a great divide as to whether or not we allow 11 million undocumented (illegal immigrants) individuals to remain in the United States I have this to say: Legal Immigration can be defined as lawfully coming to live permanently in a foreign country. Citizenship can be defined as the qualities that a person is expected to have as a responsible member of a community.
Chooses to Immigrate
If a person chooses to immigrate from their birth place to another country it is usually for economical, educational, or religious reasons or because they marry an individual from the country they are immigrating to. For the most part when a person immigrates they do so with the expectation that they will amerce themselves in the life styles and customs of their new country. They will learn the language, the laws, and the customs. They may in some instances continue to recognize family customs but for the most part they embrace a new life; an example of this is my own mother.
My mother was born in Germany in the 1930’s. She survived WWII. Her family did without basic necessities at times. The memories of being ushered out of their apartment in the middle of the night do to air raids has been handed down. Her and her friends played in the rubble. They cried 
over the loss of life. She knows of family members taken away by Hitler’s men to never return again. She also saw the kindness of the American soldiers at the end of the war. They knew that food was scarce so they would ask for their laundry to be done and then give food; knowing that cash wouldn’t get you much because there wasn’t much to be had.
In the mid 1950’s she met my father and shortly after meeting he ask for her hand in marriage. To marry my mother, my father had to get permission from his commanding officer. They completed all the necessary paper work. My grandparent in the United States were contacted to give their guarantee that if anything should happen to my father that they (grandparents) would make sure that she and any future children would be taken care of.
My parents then had two marriage ceremonies, one that was recognized by the Germany government and the other that was recognized by the US government. Prior to my parents leaving Germany my brother was born.
Upon entering the United States my mother had all her legal documents. She and my father had a place to live. As soon as they settled into their new home my mother proceeded with the process of becoming a citizen of the United States. She learned the language, she learned the city she lived in, she learned the history of her new family.
Living in the United States after Immigrating
My siblings and I never really learned German, because my mother wanted to make sure that we were fluent in our native language. Further my mother proceed to get a job. Even though she was a college graduate in Germany when she came to the United States she would have had to go back to school and take some additional classes she also would have had to take proficiency tests. Since her education wasn’t in the field she wanted it to be in and since my parents didn’t have the money for her to go back to school she found a job outside her field. Her English wasn’t all that good at the time and she didn’t know exactly what a drive-in was but they had immediate openings so she went to work as a car hop. While holding down this job her English improved and oh my she became the best cook. We didn’t grow up eating bland German food we grew up eating the best southern comfort food there is.
Within years of my mother’s arrival in the United States my Grandmother and Uncle immigrated to the United States. Legally, mind you and through Ellis Island. As did my mother, my uncle assimilated to the laws, customs and life in the United States.
My father, uncle and aunt all served in the military. They traveled the world. They all had at least one tour in Vietnam. They all brought home with them the memories and scars of Vietnam. For my father and uncle those scars were both physical and mental.
My mother instilled in us children the American Pride. The respect of the laws in the United States. Growing up we traveled the world and were taught about the laws and customs of different countries. We knew that when we were in a foreign country we did not have the freedoms that we had in the United States. We grew up with the stories of WWII from people who actually lived through it and not a continent away. We saw what life good be like if it weren’t for the fact that we were Americans.
If you are a legal immigrant and you are demanding that the laws of the United States be changed to match the laws of the country you fled I ASK; why the hell did you leave the country of your past???? Instead of demanding that the laws of the United States of America change its laws why don’t you return to the country you left????
A Baby Boomers Point of View
For those 11 million illegal immigrants I say… the United States of America has laws that you did not follow. I understand that during the past eight years we have had a president in office who didn’t recognize the laws of the United States, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t there. You are not better than my mother and my uncle. Many of you never took the time to even learn the established language of the United States and you expect our citizen to learn the language of your birth country.
No one is saying that all 11 million illegal immigrants will not be allowed to stay or to come back if deported. Listen to the questions Trey Gowdy asks of a young lady before a Senate hearing and his responses to his own questions when she cannot answer by clicking here.