For those of you Americans who haven’t been convinced yet, how about some of these quotes:

Richard Alatorre, Los Angeles City Council: "They’re afraid we’re going to take over the governmental institutions and other institutions. They’re right. We will take them over. … We are here to stay."

Excelsior, the national newspaper of Mexico: "The American Southwest seems to be returning to the jurisdiction of Mexico without firing a single shot."

One more: Professor Jose Angel Gutierrez, University of Texas: "We have an aging white America. They are not making babies. They are dying. The explosion is in our population … I love it. They are sh…… in their pants with fear. I love it." (Thanks for the quotes T.B.)

Title 8 Section 1325 of the U. S. Code, under the section titled "Improper Entry by Alien," states that any citizen of any country other than the United States who: "Enters or attempts to enter the U.S. at any place or time other than designated by immigration officers, or eludes examination or inspection by immigration officers, or attempts to enter or obtains entry to the U.S. by a willfully false or misleading representation, has committed a federal crime. Violations are punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment for up to six months. Repeat offenses can bring up to two years in prison (American Patrol Reference Archive)."

Tough sounding, but where is the enforcement? This is just another example of our politicians making decisions based on potential political gain rather than doing what is best for the good and security of our country.

We are supposed to be a law-abiding nation, but do we get to pick and choose which laws we want to obey? Mexico’s illegal-immigration laws are at least as tough-sounding as ours. The difference is Mexico’s politicians rigorously enforce theirs. At the same time the government of Mexico publishes comic books instructing how to successfully sneak into the U.S. and avoid later apprehension.

Let’s get a few things straight. You are illegal aliens. If you came over with your families, they are illegal aliens. If this hurts your feelings, so what? You are not guest workers or undocumented laborers as the politically correct crowd and the pseudo-intellectual crowd like to call you for fear of hurting your feelings.

I don’t care if I hurt your feelings. You and your families are criminals. You have no rights: no right to a job, no right to our public school system, and no right to our welfare system, health-care system or our police/justice system.

Is this too hard to understand? Sorry, I am not going to print this in Spanish for your convenience. Respect our laws by immigrating legally, learning our language, assimilating peacefully into our culture, and respecting our flag, and you will be welcome.

No, you serve absolutely no useful purpose being here. You are not helping our economy when the vast majority of your "earnings" are sent back to Mexico. There are plenty of willing Americans to do the jobs you are doing as long as they are paid a fair wage.

As an illegal, you have been willing to come in illegally, force the wage levels down (amazing how little one has to make when paying no income taxes), take advantage of government housing subsidies, bleed our welfare system, health-care system, and overload our criminal-justice system.

I do agree that the businesses who hire you are as much at fault. There should be stiff penalties for them, also. I also blame our politicians on both sides of the aisle who have no backbone but rather drool over the potential of millions of new voters. Hopefully, the 67 percent or more Americans who are finally disgusted with this situation will remember this come November and vote these clowns out of office.

Yes, we need a wall. Yes, we need increased numbers of border guards who can be given more muscle than the current catch-and-release policy. Yes, we need to start deporting those illegals, no matter how daunting the task may seem.

If all else fails, I think a strip of land, two or three hundred yards wide, heavily impregnated with land mines might do the trick. Don’t worry, I am not that heartless. I would make sure all the "Danger, no trespassing" signs are printed in Spanish.

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Tom Sears is a professor of accounting at Hartwick College in Oneonta and serves on the Unatego Central School Board of Education. He can be reached at SearsT@hartwick.edu. His column appears every other week.