I guess it is pretty safe to say we must have one hell of country and those that came here legally and work here legally are welcomed every day.
PS
I am a gringo and my wife is from Mexico. The looks my wife gets from other Mexicans that do not know us are "not very pleasant." This even happened to us once in Spain. Because she is with a gringo it was assumed she was a hooker. However, in all honesty this is a very rare occurrence. She is actually a graduate of University of Texas and a computer engineer, a US citizen and loyal American. We speak English at work, mostly English at home but when her relatives are visiting it is all Spanish. The best advice I can give is ignore the ignorant.
>>I am a gringo and my wife is from Mexico. The looks my wife gets from other Mexicans that do not know us are “not very pleasant.”<<
I have noted that some female US citizens feel threatened when a male US citizen marries and legalizes a female alien. It seems to me that this could be related to the same kind of resentment that older women feel when an older man marries a younger woman (see NYT article about Fred Thompson’s “Trophy Wife”—his kids are adults). In most cases, I think it is wrong for a man to dump his wife and young children to remarry (wife not a drug user or a banshee).
OK, here is a question: Should US citizens be able to marry an illegal alien inside the USA and then file for a green card? Maybe in the case of illegals whose life would truly be in danger from governments or terrorists if deported, but otherwise, I think such marriages should not be valid as the basis for green card applications. We have a problem now with fake marriages to gain legal status. I think allowing such arrangements makes the problem worse.
But as soon as you pass a law prohibiting such legalizations, here comes the ACLU. Does that stand for Alien Civil Liberties Union?