DEAR EDITOR:

Mexican American Student Association co-founder Angela Flores' remarks in Wednesday's MDJ article "Immigration activists discuss need for reform" were an insolent assault on not only every American citizen wondering why illegal immigrant Jessica Colotl was allowed to enter and study at Kennesaw State University, but also on the thousands of immigrants who have legally entered the United States and worked to create a path to citizenship for themselves.

"Don't ask why she didn't become a citizen ... don't ask why, you know, she is illegal," Flores derisively admonished the general public.

As an American citizen, it is my right to ask those questions and to receive an answer, if not from Colotl herself, then from her legal representative. I also reserve the right to pose this question: If Jessica Colotl is intelligent enough to pass college courses, then what possible obstacle could prevent her from obtaining United States citizenship? Surely in her time at Kennesaw State she has taken exams that require far more dedication and study than would the citizenship test given by the government. She is also most likely capable of passing the simple written test for a driver's license (though since she was pulled over for a traffic violation, the practical exam could present a problem).

Flores also declares that "there was no path to citizenship" provided for Colotl. So I suppose someone, at some point in Colotl's life, was supposed to supply her with a step-by-step instruction manual to becoming a citizen? Perhaps Flores can write such a handbook and have the Border Guard distribute copies at the Rio Grande. When Colotl turned 18 and became emancipated from the parents that brought her here, it became her sole responsibility to ensure that she properly documented herself. People who are born in the United States are required to document themselves through various means, such as paying income tax and submitting to the Census, and young adult males are required to sign up with the Selective Service or face jail time and/or a stiff fine.

While it was indeed the parents who brought her here at first, the fact remains that Colotl is an adult, and as such should demonstrate a mature level of accountability to the country that has afforded her so much.

I resent Flores' remarks, as well as the general lack of respect toward the American tradition of law and order that the panelists displayed at the immigration forum, but I appreciate Sheriff Neil Warren for his unwavering stance on keeping illegals from disrupting our way of life. I hope Warren will not take the feeble slur of "Wild West Warren" that has been directed his way as an insult, but as a term of endearment from the many citizens of Cobb who are outraged at the recent events that have transpired regarding Colotl and her abuse of the American system.

Philip Brock
Marietta