The same old tired story

The Arizona Republic has run yet another of its thinly-disguised opinion pieces human-interest "news" stories about illegal immigration; this time the overtly sympathy-seeking topic is the harsh plight of some unlawful migrants once they've been returned to their proper country, as if the current situation in the Mexican border town of Nogales is somehow our fault because the migrants didn't manage to successfully enter the United States or were caught and returned to Mexico once here.

It certainly isn't, of course.

In case any readers didn't get the none-too-subtle message that we're supposed to be doing something about the mess down there, which involves Mexican citizens in Mexico, here's the front-page photo that accompanied the piece:

(Nick Oza/The Arizona Republic)

We suspect a little "helpful" staging was done with that particular photo. Mr Oza will probably nevertheless be nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

Interestingly, the story (unwittingly, certainly) helps directly disprove the oft-repeated fallacy that the migrants "are only here temporarily to find work" by quoting outraged repatriated illegal immigrant Victoria Villagrana, who had been here for 21 years:

"'I am a stranger in my own land,' she says. 'I am so sad. When the bus came, it felt like I was leaving the country where I was born. I said, 'I don't want to go. This (United States) is my country.'"

Notice the irritating mindset of entitlement she exhibits, as if by simply residing in the U.S. for some years before being caught and deported she somehow rates special privileges, perks that are denied other immigrants because those chumps stupidly and naively did things the legal and correct way.

Sorry, Ms. Villagrana. You weren't in fact born here, no matter what it "feels" like to you, and Mexico is your lawful country of residence, not America.

Another returned illegal immigrant, in an admittedly tough scrape due to the choices that his parents made for him when he was 6, sure has a funny way of showing "respect" and "understanding" for our laws:

"[Fernando] Coria tried to re-enter the United States but got caught. He bears no resentment, only a resigned sadness. "I understand the law, and I respect it. But I have no choice," he says."

Then we submit you don't understand and respect the law, Mr. Coria, if you are continually trying to circumvent it.

We agree that Nogales, Mexico seems to be in an awful predicament these days. It is up to Mexico to find a way to resolve the problem, however. America is not at fault here just because we're finally beginning to defend our borders.