Where is the immigration debate?

California’s immigration story is a bittersweet, heart-palpitating tale incapable of arriving upon any hard-line conclusions. An example of this is that on the one hand, immigrants from India and China are upholding Silicon Valley as our American children refuse to embrace the math and sciences — in essence, they are keeping America competitive. While on the other hand, illegal immigrants weigh an enormous economic burden on states services such as: hospital care, education and prison systems.

To illustrate this point further, on one hand, illegal immigrants contribute $9.5 billion annually to Social Security. While on the other hand, in California alone — which is the national choice for immigrants — they cost the state roughly some $10.5 billion a year. These numbers are astounding and could well equip any contrarian, on either side of the immigration debate, with enough ammunition to attack his equally armed foe.

I believe what most people forget is that at some point we were all immigrants. And, in most cases, those who have immigrated to the United States have done so under similar motives to one another. As Americans, we have an immigration legacy that has perpetuated itself to this day and age. Our ancestors, the Puritans, came to this country out of religious persecution. However, their motive for being here was just as much financial, as corporations funded their trips in the hope of turning a profit.

There is no doubt that anyone entering this country should have no special or exceptional right that we as natural-born Americans don't possess. Every citizen, regardless of his plight and circumstance, should become a legal and taxpaying resident of this nation. We must always respect and honor the rule of law, which separates this country from every sovereign nation in the world.

We can accomplish this while at the same time understanding and respecting that we are all immigrants and that the majority migrated from somewhere other than our America. It is this migration that makes this country the symbol and beacon of the world that billions of people look to as the good shepherd and certainly the land of prosperity and uninterrupted freedom.

Williams can be heard daily on Sirius/XM Power 169 from 9 to 10 p.m. and from 5 to 6 a.m.

Visit www.armstrongwilliams.com.