I wanted to share with you guys one of the numerous reasons I am fighting so hard against illegal immigration.

You see for 3.5 years I worked with the mentally handicapped in my home state of Kansas. I cared for them, bathed them, taught them, clothed them, fed them, read to and played with them. It was the most fulfilling job I have ever had.

Many of them were what we called 'middle to high functioning' mean that they had many of the capabilities of a "normal" person. These individuals have lived rough lives. From being kept in cages, to being beat and chained to a heater, neglected and starved and having to live with their handicaps as well as their oppressions.

For most of them getting a job as janitor at KFC or McDonald's is as far as they will get in life. There are those who could not handle that work and simply assemble simple parts in what is known as "work shops" where they earn a sub-minimum wage to do tedious task such as twisting a nut onto a bolt without tightening. Some of their lives will be cut short and some of them will never know the simplest of pleasures like the soft touch of a lovers hand.

Illegal aliens rip the one thing that gives many of them a sense of purpose, a sense of belonging. The one thing that they can do on their own with out the State, their guardian or staff/home caretakers helping them. A job.

For most this is their only foray into the public and the real world. For others this income gives them the opportunity to get their own house or apartment and to experience the joys and pains of living away from family and/or care staff.

But most of all this is their right as Americans. The right to have a job and at least try to support themselves, the right to show the world that they too are valuable and that they can contribute to society even if it's only in ways we deem small and unimportant.

Above all they are our American brothers and sisters, our sons and daughters or neighbors and friends. They are Americans doing jobs that they are damn proud to have and no one should ever say that they do not deserve it more than some law breaking illegal alien whose wage in their home country was more than these individuals would make in a week.

They are the defenseless. I took a vow to protect and care for them and that is a vow I still hold myself to on this day. My fight is dedicated to Cake, Scary, Chopper, CooCoo, Pimpdaddy, Farmboy, Kangaroo and the rest of them. To ensure that them and others like them have a future.

(notice I used nicknames that I know them by as revealing their names would be a violation of their privacy)