If you were the parent of a child whose life was cut short by the criminal actions of an individual, what repercussions would you seek against the responsible party?

What if the responsible individual was in the United States illegally….and in some cases, deported on numerous occasions and re-enters again, again, and again.

Last week I watched an online video of parents who were gathered in a waiting area outside the office of Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. At least 12 (by my count; there were maybe more) of those parents carried oversized photos of their adult children, all of whom died at the hands of illegal aliens.

Most all of the deaths were highway fatalities. In some of those cases, the person responsible for the deaths were driving while impaired and/or not licensed to drive.

I listened to their stories while tears filled my eyes and anger tore through my heart. One father shared how his adult son was walking (legally) down the road and was struck by a vehicle operated by an illegal alien. The driver, who had been previously deported but returned, was so impaired at the time of the accident that he backed his vehicle up to see what he had struck. As a result, he ran over the man again, and then pulled forward and repeated the tragedy.

So, why were these parents in the office of Mrs. Pelosi? They were there to share horrific stories of what Madam Speaker claims as a non-crisis along our southern border.

And, to think, these are just 12 cases of where illegal aliens have took the lives of US citizens. There are countless other parents who have mourned the loss of a loved one at the hands of those that shouldn’t be in the United States in the first place.

They were in Pelosi’s office to ask why she and other Democrats didn’t support the building of a barrier along our border with Mexico that will hopefully deter illegal immigration. Madam Speaker and her liberal counterparts claim there is no crisis at our border. They welcome these illegals into the United States with open arms.

Don’t get me wrong….I’m fully in favor of allowing residents of foreign counties to enter our nation, as long as they follow all the rules and regulations. I’m hopeful that those seeking to enter our borders legally can one day become proud, flag-waving citizens of the United States.

But we have to prevent those seeking to enter illegally. As I mentioned previously, and written in the past in this same space, there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of instances where an illegal alien has been deported and returned. And in the great majority of those cases, those illegal aliens committed felonious crimes while here….to include identify theft that leads them to obtain Social Security cards and other benefits to which they’re not entitled.

And, to pour salt into the wound, I recently watched another online video….a story from a TV station in Indiana where a tax preparer there blew the whistle concerning the tax returns of documented aliens (meaning they were here on a work visa, but still a resident of a foreign country) that claimed over 20 dependents. Seems that it’s legal for them to file a tax return using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number supplied by the federal government.

Here’s the kicker with that story. When the TV news crew knocked on the door of that residence and spoke with the man whose name on was the tax return, he confessed that 19 of his 20 dependents live in Mexico. He was scheduled to receive a $15,000 tax return.

So, with that said, how much money is illegally obtained annually from the IRS by this method?

And what’s the dollar value of a human life ended at the hands of an illegal alien? Does it all add up to the $5.7 billion the President says is needed to build a barrier along the full length of our southern border? Apparently, Nancy Pelosi places that value at $1….that’s what she promised the president in his plea for more federal funding to increase border security.

Constructing such a barrier significantly slows the flow of illegal aliens into our country. That translates into saving the lives of our citizens as well as saving millions, perhaps billions, of our tax dollars obtained annually by those here illegally.

It’s no wonder that Nancy Pelosi failed to emerge from behind the protective walls of her office to face those upset parents. She has no clue as to how to provide them the answers they’re seeking.

Cal Bryant is the Editor of Roanoke-Chowan Publications. Contact him at cal.bryant@r-cnews.com or 252-332-7207.