CARY - Simply put, George W. Bush is wrong when it comes to pushing the current immigration reform bill and The News & Observer is wrong when it comes to suggesting that illegal aliens should be accommodated because they are a vital part of the work force in several states.

No country can be secure unless its borders are secure, and ours are a long way from secure as is evidenced by the continual flow of illegal immigrants. Those who crossed our borders illegally should not benefit from that transgression by leaping to the front of the line while others who applied to enter our country legally and who have waited patiently for approval continue to resist any effort to circumvent our laws.

We've been through this before when amnesty was made a part of the process for millions of illegal aliens among us. Now there is a cry for 12 million more, "many of them families" to be rewarded for their ability to slip over our borders undetected and throw open their door to family members who follow. Our hospital emergency rooms, among other services, are swamped with their demands for medical services at great cost to the American taxpayer.

Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation examined this immigration bill that the president is pushing and found that, "Particularly as it applies to millions of low-skilled illegals (50 percent to 60 percent of whom are high-school dropouts) who would be permitted to remain in the United States" the cost to American taxpayers would be $2.3 trillion to $2.5 trillion over the next few decades.

While our country does need workers, these workers also need our jobs, and we should create laws to allow them to come here to work and be paid in a fair manner without being exploited by greedy employers. Beyond that they are not entitled to call America home until they respect our borders, apply for legal entry, make an effort to learn English and intend to assimilate into American society.

Congress does owe it to the American people and to legal immigrants to face this challenge honestly, but Congress does not owe those who chose to disrespect our borders anything except a clear, unambiguous understanding of their right to apply for workers permits and to make more money working in the United States than they can make in Mexico. Beyond that they consider themselves Mexican citizens and so should we.

For those who choose to seek citizenship in America legally, we should welcome their intentions and treat them with respect, just as we should treat everyone who seeks to join with us in continuing to build the greatest country in the history of the world. That has been the history of the immigrants who came before them and whose accomplishments and contributions we have long acknowledged.

(Tom Joyner of Cary is a former Triangle-based radio talk show host.)