ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION is the biggest threat to America today, and the politicians of both parties don't seem to care.

They're afraid to take action or debate the issue because they fear offending the legal immigrants who are registered to vote. In fact, the politicians of both parties see this undocumented group of people as a pool of potential Democrat or Republican voters. They want to grant them amnesty and sign them up. This current attitude among our elected officials is seriously hindering our national security.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service estimates that there are about 6 million or more illegal aliens living in this country, a number that increases by more than 200,000 a year.

The INS also estimates that 60 percent of illegal aliens enter the United States by sneaking across the border and the remaining 40 percent arrive legally but overstay their visas.

Illegal aliens are in America due to Washington's failure to enforce our borders and its failure to keep track of those who are granted visas.

Not only do we not stop the illegal entry of these people at the borders, we actually encourage them to break the law and come here.

Every few years, our elected officials from the president on down talk about granting amnesty. Illegal aliens know that if they can get here and hide for a few years, we'll make them legal eventually.

With the Cubans, illegal entry has become a sport. If the Cubans can make it to shore and touch home plate without getting stopped, we'll let them in. If they get caught before getting off the boat and touching home plate, we'll send them back.

California and some other states want to give them driver's licenses and in-state college tuition breaks. In fact, it would cost me more to send my child to a California state college than it would cost an illegal alien who has chosen to sneak into California. They can even attend public schools and not have to learn English. We'll teach them in their own language. Is there something wrong here?

If you're an illegal immigrant from Mexico, you can buy a small plastic photo ID card called the "matricula consular" at the Mexican Embassy in Washington. More than a million illegal Mexican immigrants are using these ID cards in the United States as a form of identification so that they can open bank accounts and obtain library cards.

Any Mexican using this card at a bank or library is silently announcing that he is an illegal immigrant because he cannot produce any other form of identification.

Because no one takes illegal immigration seriously despite 9/11, these people are not turned in.

The bank, instead of calling the INS, opens an account for the illegal immigrant. The librarian, instead of calling INS, issues a library card.

Americans must demand that their elected officials stop this insanity. We must take our country back.

Hopefully, the president and members of Congress will do something before there is another 9/11.

Bob Scherr is an attorney in Glen Burnie and a talk show host with WCBM radio.