Common culture needed for a country to survive

On Monday, immigration reform activists have promised to launch street protests in dozens of cities with the promise to "shut down" the cities where the rallies are planned. It will also bring a new Spanish language National Anthem to the debate and promises to begin a summer of protests over the growing movement to address illegal immigration.

An estimated one million protesters will take to the streets in large urban areas from coast to coast. They hope to persuade Congress to abandon plans to reform the immigration policies of this country. Their ultimate aim is to offer amnesty to the 12 million illegal immigrants here today and to open the door to unrestricted immigration in the future.

Nothing short of our future hangs in the balance.

Any country without a common culture cannot survive. Competing languages and cultures will surely doom the future of this once great nation. We don't have to worry about some foreign terrorist - we are becoming our own worst enemy.

Mexico is effectively importing their poor to this country. They come here for the opportunities that millions have worked to provide but they also come here because of the safety net of social services unavailable in their homeland. It seems that far too few in Washington understand the long-term implications of this unlimited supply of poor. How they could not understand is beyond my imagination.

The irony, of course, is that this nation has a relatively simple and easy legal immigration process. It has worked throughout our history. But the process of illegal immigration - virtually unlimited - is where the problem exists. To become an illegal immigrant actually takes two steps. It takes one step to cross our southern border illegally and it takes another step when someone offers housing or employment. If we would begin to put employers in jail who hire illegal immigrants, the problem would evaporate rapidly. But we lack the resolve and the national will to take such a drastic step.

The headlines on Monday will feature massive crowds walking in the streets of our metropolitan areas. Mexican flags will be in abundance. Speaker after speaker will blast those who want to control our immigration.

And Congress - recognizing the voting potential of the Hispanic community - will eventually approve some watered-down version of a new immigration policy in the hopes that the issue will fade from the headlines.

Those reading this column will likely not pay a price for the events unfolding. But our children and their children will pay a price. We should be collectively ashamed of our lack of backbone.