About the middle of June, Gov. Robert Bentley signed a bill, which passed into law and would have taken affect on Sept. 1. This was a tough, no-nonsense law on illegal aliens working, or living illegally in Alabama.

Now, I love all types of people. I have many friends from south of the border, but allowing the thousands who sneak in and have no papers is going a little overboard, not to mention those people who went to a lot of trouble to come here legally. They did it right, and so should everyone else.

Higher crime rates and low employment availability are part of the down side to these people living here illegally. We have the welfare and safety of our own people to think about, our children to educate and our property to protect. There are many illegal aliens living all over the country yet very few states are pushing this kind of legislature.

It was reported from Yahoo.com that if all 3.5 million aliens moved back to Mexico, from Los Angeles California, it would leave an extra $10.2 billion to spend on overloaded school systems, bankrupt hospitals and overrun prisons. Highways would be cleaner, safer and less congested not to mention that English would once again be the language of choice. The same was reported for Denver, Colorado, Chicago, Illinois and the whole state of Florida.

This law — even tougher than the Arizona law we have heard so much about — has very little support from the federal government. According to The Washington Times, “a federal district judge halted Alabama’s new immigration law on Monday (Aug. 29), which happened to be days before it was to take effect, making it the latest state to see a crackdown law blocked by a court.”

What seems like a ridiculous excuse, Chief District Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn said she didn’t have enough time to consider the law in full before September 1. Where are our congressmen helping us to crackdown on illegal aliens? The federal government seems so unwilling to take up any issues of immigration reform or even take any steps to further secure our borders. 

Think about it. If we were to visit any other country outside our own, we would have to have legal paperwork to cross borders into other countries. Even Mexico is strict. I have three sons who went overseas on church missions who had very stringent laws to abide to enable them to live in European countries and even Mexico.

Life will be very unpleasant for those illegally in Alabama when this law will take affect. We have to draw the line somewhere but this is our country, and those who have been living here legally for many years, paying taxes and keeping our country safe should not be made to feel guilty about those living here illegally.

Call and or write your congressman and tell them, “We mean business! Let Alabama keep her law of illegal aliens so we can keep our state safe.”

Valerie J. Steimle is the author of four books. Contact her at valeriesteimle@yahoo.com, visit her website at www.stregthenyourhome.com or check out her blog at www.valeriesteimle.blogspot.com.