Rewarding bad behavior

What a touching story. When local ethnic leaders step up and help a fellow out...except for the fact this man is an illegal immigrant. I am no longer warm and fuzzy inside.

Ricardo Lopez earned a bachelor's degree and then a master's, but the jobs never rolled in.

His spirits were buoyed this summer when he was accepted to another, yearlong graduate program, one that would prepare him for medical school — a dream he had chased since childhood.

The price tag for tuition and other student fees at a public university, however, wasn't cheap. In all, he figured, the education would set him back $10,000.
But his friends and admirers — some of them prominent Orange County Latino leaders — did not want to see the 27-year-old fail.

So they donated about $500 each. A Santa Ana city councilwoman. The executive director of the county's Human Relations Commission. A local leader with the League of United Latin American Citizens. In Lopez, they saw a rare perseverance.

I am unimpressed by their decision. It's a kind act but a prime example of rewarding bad behavior. When we allow illegal immigrants to come in and stay here without receiving the proper documentation, and then promote their illegal behavior and go out of our way to educate and provide for these illegal immigrants, we are setting ourselves up for failure. Where do we leave our own children, even if stricken with poverty or left in a ghetto with no guidance? We leave them in the ghetto.
It's inspiring that Lopez wants an education and works hard for it. But if a child wants a cookie before dinner, do we give him one? If a child gets caught red-handed, stealing a cookie from the jar, do you let him eat it? No. Or else he and all the other children will begin to think it's acceptable behavior. And it's not.

Some anti-illegal immigrant activists agree that Lopez's story is compelling but question why there is such support for a person living illegally in the United States while there are citizens who could use similar financial help.

"Stories like his are touching and inspiring," said Eileen Garcia, a member of the Minuteman Project, a border patrol group. "But what gets me is that if this guy, if he is illegal, and could achieve as much as he did, why couldn't he follow the law and get legal status?"

Well put, Ms. Garcia.

Allen Baldwin, executive director of the Community Housing Corp., a nonprofit low-cost home builder, said Lopez should be commended. "Perseverance against all odds" is how Baldwin sums it up.

Perseverance? How about skirting the law?

Shame on you, Latino leaders in Orange County. Shame on you.