Ja'von is a senior in High School and is captain of the football team; in addition to school and football, Ja'von also works part time to help his single mother pay house bills. Ja'von is close to graduating, but must pass his history final in order to graduate. Ja'von needs an "A" on the exam in order to pass the class for the semester. Mr. Menendez, the history teacher, refuses to give Ja'von any leniency on the grade; despite the many circumstances in which Ja'von faces daily.

For the next two weeks, Ja'von spends his time after school, and before football practice, studying for this one test. During his break period at work, Ja'von studies for this one test. The past two weekends, Ja'von has broken two dates with his girlfriend Chenille, so that he could study-for-this-one-test. The day finally comes for Ja'von to take the test, and he is ready! Ja'von spends his last 45 cents on a pencil from the library, in order to ensure that he is fully prepared to pass the test.

Fifteen minutes into the test, a student named Wyatt walks in to the classroom. Wyatt needs the same grade as Ja'von on the same history exam, in order to graduate from high school as well. Wyatt tells Mr. Menendez "I overslept because I was hanging with my friends, and I do not have a pencil because I spent my last forty-five cents on a pack of gum." Mr. Menendez instructs Wyatt to take a seat, and then Mr. Menendez continues monitoring the class.

Ja'von is breezing through the test, and everything that he has worked hard for is paying off! Ja'von raises his hand to indicate to the teacher that he is finished, and Ja'von tells Mr. Menendez "I know I got an [A] because I studied very hard." Wyatt, the other student, has not written anything (no pencil or knowledge of the subject) and raises his hand as well. Wyatt tells Mr. Menendez "I did not study because I think the test is unfair, and Mr. Menendez, I demand that you let me use Ja'vons pencil to write down the answers that he wrote on his test, so that I can copy it on my own test to turn in for the same grade?"

Without hesitation, Mr. Menendez instructs Ja'von to hand over his pencil (which Ja'von paid for), and his test (which Ja'von studied to pass) to Wyatt. Now both Ja'von and Wyatt were given the same guidelines to look over and study for the test, and both needed the same outcome to graduate.

My question to the reader is this: is it morally right, or even justifiable that Mr. Menendez has rewarded Wyatt, who refused to put in any time or effort to study, with the same grade that Ja'von worked hard to achieve?

I use this scenario as an example for the thousands of American citizens who complete the naturalization process each year. These men and women have worked very hard to achieve the right to be called an American citizen. Amnesty to Illegal Immigrants promotes a reward based system similar to that of Mr. Menendez's reward system in the scenario. Like Ja'von in the scenario, the Legal Immigrant in America has sacrificed a great deal to earn citizenship. Unfortunately the Illegal Immigrant, much like Wyatt, seeks only to by pass the entire process of naturalization and demand a right or privilege that was not earned.

There should be no double standard on the issue of immigration in the United States of America, and amnesty to illegal aliens only hardens the slap in the face towards the many Americans who have waited years to gain citizenship. God bless those who have a desire to come to this land of opportunity through a legal process. The audacity that people can take to the streets to advocate for supporting a criminal act is absurd, and those who came here legally should stand against such an assertion.