Dear daughter of mine,

You’re pretty amazing, did you know that? Not only are you smart, sassy and beautiful—but you’re kind of an ethnic Heinz 57.

When I was growing up, we’d ask your great-grandfather what we “are,” and he’d rattle off the list: Irish, English, Scottish, Welsh, Dutch, German, French, Belgian, Jewish, and Cherokee Indian.

And recently (thanks to a handy-dandy, way cool DNA test), we found out there’s a few more to add to that list: you’re also a little bit of Spanish, Portuguese, Swiss, Czech, Austrian, Polish, Croatian, Italian, Greek, Norwegian, Swedish, and Finnish.

So honey, you’re all that—and since your daddy is Mexican, you’re basically Europe with a little Latin flare!

I can’t wait till you get older and I can tell you about all those places—and our family’s journey to come here and become Americans.

I’ll tell you about your daddy’s journey too, and all the things we had to go through in order for him to be able to live here with us.

I wrote you a letter a few weeks ago about how lots of women were pretty mad about some things, and they protested about it. I wrote to explain why your mommy didn’t go with them.

Today, some more people protested.

They are immigrants—many here illegally—who are mad at President Trump for believing two things:

1. That people who want to come here should follow the law or face consequences
2. That some very bad people take advantage of our porous border and our immigration system to come here and do very bad things—and that we need to address that.

So, they decided to take the day off in protest. And it’s not just work—the call to action includes a refrain from shopping (in stores or online), eating out, buying gas, attending school or sending children to school.

 “Un día sin inmigrantes” (“A day without immigrants”) is supposed to show the country just how reliant we are on immigrants.

Guess what, honey? We are.  We are a nation of immigrants (as your 22+ nationalities illustrates pretty clearly).  We are the people we are today because millions left their lives behind to build one here.

So, why didn’t your daddy—an immigrant from Mexico—stay home today in protest?

Because your daddy respects the rule of law.

Your daddy doesn’t believe that asking someone to come here through the legal channels (like he did) is “hateful.”

Your daddy knows that this president doesn’t hate immigrants (newsflash: he’s married to one); he’s going after lawlessness.

Your daddy—while he celebrates that this country extends nearly a million permanent resident cards a year to new immigrants—doesn’t believe that a person has an inherent human right to come to this country, especially illegally.

Your daddy believes that what’s being celebrated here is lawlessness, and that that plays a direct role in destroying exactly what so many millions came here for in the first place. They came because it’s different; it’s different precisely because we’re a nation of laws. Breaking those laws destroys that.

So many people are just like your daddy. They worked very hard, saved, and waited in line for the right to call this place home. And isn’t it sad that so many other people believe they shouldn’t have to follow the rules—and come here anyway?

It’s really sad.

It’s sad that of the 6.1 million illegal immigrants who file taxes, the vast majority of them don’t pay any federal income taxes—and instead use the filing process to claim refunds.

It’s sad that while 15 million American children live in poverty, illegal immigrants cost our country upwards of $113 billion dollars a year.

It’s sad that in Los Angeles, the police officers there are not allowed to make sure someone is here legally—and if they do, THEY are punished. This is a city, by the way, where “two-thirds of all outstanding felony warrants in the city of Los Angeles involved illegal aliens — as well as 95% of outstanding murder warrants.”

It’s sad that there are 300+ cities all around the country that openly break federal law as they “knowingly conceal, harbor, or shield undocumented aliens.”  It’s even sadder that according to a nine month study of sanctuary cities, 62 percent of the 9,265 illegals protected from deportation “‘had significant prior criminal histories’ and 2,320 of them were subsequently rearrested for new crimes.”

It’s sad how many men, women and children have needlessly lost their lives at the hands of someone who wasn’t supposed to be here in the first place.

It’s sad that millions of people are teaching their children that it’s ok to break the law, so long as they want something.

It’s sad that simply because not ALL of these illegal immigrants are bad people, we have to collectively shut our mouths and hope it all works out.

It’s sad that by suggesting that any of this is a problem, you’re automatically labeled racist, intolerant, close-minded and bigoted.

No one is suggesting that your daddy, or any legal immigrant, isn’t welcome here. And anyone who tries to say that’s what happening is either dangerously unaware or blatantly lying.

It is a fact that we take in more immigrants and refugees than any country in the world. It’s also a fact that we are a sovereign nation entitled to defend our borders and determine who enters our nation and when. That means we can take in 1, or 100,000,000 immigrants—and we don’t have to tolerate a single lawbreaker. And not a shred of what I just said is unconstitutional.

So, did your daddy stay home in “solidarity” with those who cut the line ahead of him to come here illegally?

He sure didn’t.

Mary Ramirez is a full-time writer, creator of www.afuturefree.com (a political commentary blog), and contributor to The Chris Salcedo Show (TheBlaze Radio Network, M-F, 3-5. ET). She can be reached at: afuturefree@aol.com; or on Twitter: @AFutureFree