"No Trespassing!" That message is clear to most of us. The message of what it could mean if we violate it is also quite clear. Violation of that warning can be and has been met with the peeled-back snarl and hinge-released snap of a vicious dog, electric charged barbed wires, or the powdered breath exhaled from the nostrils of a double-barrel shotgun. "No Trespassing" means no trespassing!

I wonder: How is "No Trespassing" different from illegal immigration? I did say "illegal" immigration, did I not? Illegal as in driving without a license. Drinking under age. Growing a cannabis jungle. Stealing. Forgery. Drug trafficking. "Illegal" means illegal!

Can you be arrested for trespassing? Sure can. It's "illegal." Right? Is our president planning to use that same principle with illegal immigrants? Of course not. Because it's "illegal." Right? Hey ... wait a minute. What did I just say? Did I say we are not enforcing the laws of illegal immigration because it's "illegal?" OK. Help with this one. For all those illegal immigrants in the United States, we are just going to say, "Well, your residency is illegal, but since you're already here..." (???)

So if I trespass on a military base, will I, as an American citizen born and raised, face something like this: "Stop! Put your hands behind your head and drop face down on the ground." The long straight noses of four XM8 lightweight assault rifles have every critical point of my body covered. "Do you realize you're trespassing, sir? Who are you?"

"My name is John DiMambro. I heard that the military can provide me with a good life. So I decided to take a look. You know, check out the barracks n' stuff like that."

"Sir, you have violated the laws that pertain to trespassing on government property. But ... Ah hell, since you're here already, we'll let you stay. The registration desk is at the northeast point of the base. The barracks are just off to the left. Enjoy your life with us sir."

I don't know. Maybe it's me. But I just don't seem to think that's what would happen.

Absurd? OK, ya' got me. Extreme and incredible? Got me again. Is our president's stand on illegal immigration absurd? Yes! Extreme and incredible? Yes again. Why? Because it's "illegal." For God's sake, it's "illegal!"

Did you ever think about this: For every 10 illegal immigrants who are sincere, desperate seekers of better lives, there could be two criminals who are out for someone else's life. Forget it man! I heard John McCain arguing with "Good Morning America" host Charlie Gibson that the United States is not granting these illegal immigrants amnesty. And that "...amnesty implies forgiveness," and that the immigrants "...must earn..." their citizenship.

But they will also be given the right to stay here, Johnny baby, while they earn that right. Sounds like a great deal to me. Too great. They get to stay here illegally, trespassing as it were, on someone else's property. That "someone" is the embodiment of the people of the United States of America. Illegal? Illegal!

The turn of the century's open immigration cannot be compared to illegal immigration. All four of my grandparents crossed the Atlantic from Italy to Ellis Island just after World War I. They had passports. I know they did because I have them. The passports were their rights to passage to a free world; their legal tickets to the real theater of a new world. Their legal ticket. Their new world. Not illegal.

If President Bush chooses not to stand by the laws of illegal immigration, then all he will prove to me is that he sees this as his last ditch effort to get his butt out of the ditch, meaning he would either maintain or gain the support of the Hispanic community. But to me, this has little to do with Hispanics or any other ethnic group. It has to do with what has been already defined as "illegal" versus "legal." Period.

Illegal immigration should be treated like any other crime. The punishment that matches the crime, in this case, is to be sent back to their country of origin. Apply for citizenship like others have to, and then come back to enjoy the land of the free and the home of the brave. "Illegal" means illegal. In this case, "No Trespassing!"