'Dream' or nightmare?

Opposition to illegal immigration is often criticized as proof of a "lack of compassion."

But lack of compassion for whom? America is a wealthy country, but our resources are not limitless. Allowing illegal aliens access to taxpayer-funded benefits and resources amounts to reducing the benefits and resources available to U.S. citizens and lawful immigrants.

How is that "compassionate"?

Addressing that injustice, U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., has stated his opposition to the so-called "Dream Act." That bill in Congress would legalize certain illegal aliens who came to the United States as minors. It would also make them eligible for reduced in-state college tuition rates.

"The Dream Act would reward those who have obtained an education in a system in which they have not contributed," Sen. Isakson wrote in an e-mail to the Times Free Press. "While I am sympathetic to students who are seeking financial assistance for educational purposes and were brought to this country by their parents without a choice, I am not supportive of programs that reward those behaviors ... when there are thousands of United States citizens who are in need of similar educational funds."

Americans of all political viewpoints feel great compassion toward citizens of any impoverished nation who wish to improve themselves economically. But allowing them to pursue that through U.S. policies that disadvantage our own citizens is wrong.