Toda mi vida I've had a special affinity for the Spanish language.  The tongue never rests when speaking it and because of that, the letter "R" in Spanish is one of my favorite sounds to either make or hear.

Furthermore, various dialects within the Spanish language tell the ebb-and-flow stories of years of life and culture and community.  And since folks of Latino heritage are considered the face of immigration at this juncture of America's history, I sprinkle their brilliant language throughout this post.

Pero I digress.

Ayer, large cities like Washington, Chicago, and Miami saw people rally juntos in crowds as large as 15,000.  Their cause was immigration reform.  The numbers of people present at these rallies have dwindled some since the start of these annual events some years ago because of massive raids and deportations that put fear in the corazones of those who would demonstrate, but  who don't want to be kicked out of the country.

Sólo one candidate supports comprehensive immigration reform conjoined with an overall overhaul in the way we look at the immigration issue. 

Barack Obama has proposed that by removing incentives, responsibly enforcing the law, cooperating with México, y putting current undocumented workers on the path to citizenship, we could end illegal immigration.  What follows are some of my thoughts regarding his proposals.

Yo think what sometimes gets lost in this national debate is that most immigrants want immigration reform.

Lo que I mean by that is that they don't want to be considered "illegal aliens", not sólo because of the dehumanizing nature of such a phrase, but because they don't want to be considered law breakers.  They want to be considered full-blown, devoted Americans and want to go through the entire process of being naturalized citizens.  But the confused and confusing laws surrounding immigration are dismal in their slow-plodding pace and bureaucratic red tape.

Un muddled area of current immigration policy is where laws that look to punish those who employ undocumented workers are not enforced.  Too many companies con impunity continue to break the law against hiring undocumented workers.

El enojo and resentment seems to be misdirected in this debate.  Many American-owned companies are the initial lawbreakers here, but a lot of gente only want to label immigrants "illegal" or "criminal". 

En los Estados Unidos, los hipócritas están muchos.

Nosotros must simultaneously get rid of the reason immigrants may come here illegally while at the same time promote economic growth in México.

Nosotros have this notion in this country that America gets so many immigrants because of the oportunidades here.  We rarely discuss how to address the flipside of that concept:  the country an immigrant hails from is probably deficient in the number of opportunities available there.  México needs America's ayuda in lifting the number of its available jobs up to a level we and México would consider sufficient to slow or stop illegal immigration.

Eso will be America's responsibility both as long as México is located directly to the South of us, and as long as México suffers from dire economic circumstances.  America doesn't have to be and shouldn't be the only country in this world that enjoys economic stability. And it's our responsibility to promote it in other countries in ways most diplomatic and non-interventionistic as posible.

Con many blessings and much success always will come much responsibility.  American policies enacted that massage México's economy in cooperation with the Mexican government could produce incredible changes in this illegal immigration debate.  And so would responsible, committed enforcement of leyes that punish companies who hire undocumented workers. 

Obama gets it. And if he's elected, this nation of inmigrantes - because we're all immigrants regardless the varying ways in which our ancestors got here -- will be the better for it.