Virginia adds on to the wall bordering Mexico

Well, not literally. It is the kind of block, though, that will dissuade illegal immigration. A Virginia law now bans illegal immigrants from receiving benefits from the Commonwealth. With the debates surrounding in-state tuition at Virginia colleges, this is good news.

There is some debate around these laws though.

Activists who oppose the new law say it duplicates other state and federal statutes that already block illegal aliens from receiving government benefits.

However true this may be, these laws do not appear to be strongly enforced.

They also say the new law might confuse legal immigrants and keep them from applying for benefits to which they are entitled.

This just presumes stupidity on the part of those who have entered the country legally; how many people cannot distinguish between legal and illegal?

National estimates show roughly 500,000 aliens enter the United States annually, with many settling in North Carolina and Georgia.
Before "it was easier just to look the other way," [Ira] Mehlman [spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform] said. "What's happening now in Virginia and other places is the cost of looking away has become prohibitive."

Illegal immigrants basically "cut in line," ahead of those who had worked so hard to get into the country through legal channels. This is unfair to them and unfair to those of us who already live here. I hope that this law gets the proper attention and does not just get stacked into the pile with the other "duplicate" laws.