By Geno Schotte
If you enter the United States illegally, you will be arrested and deported back to where you came from. That is the law. Immigration laws and illegal entry are not one and the same.
Many of the protesters that have been protesting lately at the Federal Building and Downtown Los Angles are confused over this issue. To enter the United States illegally and have a child, does not give you United States citizenship.
Immigration handbooks, manuals and policy guidance can be obtained at any U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. (USCIS) If you do not want to give up the citizenship of the country you came from, you may apply for dual citizenship. This is a lot more pleasant then being arrested and deported. America is a great country.
United States Citizenship Application Forms are free. There might be a charge on some things, but it is a lot cheaper than hiring a coyote and/or entering illegally. You are not required to speak English fluently. Just be able to speak some English, understand some English and be able to write some English.
God bless America!
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 15, 2007. Read the original PDF.