[July 08, 2011] The Gazette, Colorado Springs, Colo., Barry Noreen column Tweet Jul 08, 2011 (The Gazette - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Dulce Rodriguez-Gallardo is an American citizen. Because she is only four years old, she has no concept of immigration law or the debate surrounding it. She's much too young to have any understanding of medical procedures or civil liability, much less the awareness to see that the quality of her life will never come close to that of her fellow American citizens. Dulce was born Feb. 11, 2007 at Memorial Hospital with severe brain damage. She'll never be able to walk and will never have normal intellectual ability. A lawsuit alleged malpractice and the hospital agreed to a $700,000 settlement. Some Gazette readers are outraged because Dulce's mother, Maria Gallardo, is a Mexican national who lives in Colorado Springs and is here illegally. "It's not an immigration issue," said Corey Almond, vice president of Family Immigration Services and Parish Social Ministries at Catholic Charities. "This could have happened to any person." True, but some readers didn't want truth to get in the way of their rage. "I'm sure she has 7 or 10 healthy kids to make up for the one that made her rich," one anonymous commenter wrote of Gallardo. Another malevolent wag chimed in: "Put her sorry butt in jail, she is here illegally then take and fine her the $700K to get that money back." And this bit of racist weirdness from a guy who calls himself Nordicdude: "I envision a foxy El Camino." Nordicdude and the rest, you can accept the laws or you can work to change them, knowing a lot of us will oppose you. Or you can move to Sweden, where there are a lot of white people, but you won't speak the language. Almond said the diocese in 2006 estimated there were more than 50,000 people in a 10-county area in Southern Colorado living here illegally. The construction, restaurant, agriculture and hotel industries all over the state benefit from this labor force. Trying to deport all of these folks isn't the right approach. It's also impossible. How are you going to legally round up 50,000 people? Instead of ostracizing them we should follow Catholic Charities' example and do what we can to integrate them into our community, teaching them English. We should follow former President George W. Bush's advice, granting them work visas so they can be added to the tax rolls. And we should listen to the rational words of a reader who goes by Mercurialrust: "What really sounds dumb is the cacaphonic din of the yammering of people that are so bereft of any dignity or compassion that they must focus on a political issue instead of comprehending that what happened to this poor baby could have happened to anyone regardless of citizen status or race." -- Listen to Barry Noreen on KRDO NewsRadio 105.5 FM and 1240 AM at 6:35 a.m. on Fridays and read his blog updates at gazette.com blogs/barrysblog To see more of The Gazette, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.gazette.com. Copyright (c) 2011, The Gazette, Colorado Springs, Colo. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]