In the week leading up to the Fourth of July, I spent a lot of time pondering what is to be an American.

There was no choice. My emails and voice mails were full of vitriol from native-born Americans who were railing about "illegal immigrants." Meanwhile, the "illegals" that I know are often filled with idealism for America.

In message after message, "real" Americans condemned my column subject of last week – a UC Davis pre-med student who is "illegal" but desperately wants to be legal.

While wishing deportation for 20-year-old Mandeep Chahal, these Americans often gave voice to the feeling that America's best days are in the past.

The "illegals" I know, such as Chahal, believe that America's best days are in the future.

This dichotomy brings to mind the words of Richard Rodriguez, the Sacramento-born author and social commentator who once said: "America doesn't have an immigration problem. It has a native-born problem." Before we can have immigration reform, we must have attitude reform among America's native-born.

And really, there is nothing harder than changing public attitudes cemented over time.

Racial segregation, drinking and driving, smoking in public were all once commonly accepted, along with scores of other now-discarded social norms.

My Fourth of July wish is that beginning now, we begin changing attitudes and the discussion around illegal immigration.

To begin with, there is rampant misunderstanding over the act of being in the United States without documentation.

My fellow Americans – it is a civil offense, not a criminal one. If you don't believe me, look it up.

What you'll find is that the act of being a foreigner in the United States without proper documentation is not a felony. It's a civil offense akin to failing to take out a proper permit for a home improvement.

Yet this issue has been politicized so pervasively for so long that falsehoods have become fact.

In a recent immigration teleconference, none other than Ed Prieto, sheriff of Yolo County, admitted that he too once believed the misinformation.

"I was always told (being in the United States without documentation) was a felony violation of law," Prieto said in various publications in late May. "But after we met with the Mexican Consulate in Sacramento, we learned it's not."

This is where the immigration discussion always goes haywire.

The U.S.-Mexico border is politicized to the point where the public thinks most, if not all, immigrants are streaming across the border like an unbroken chain gang of criminals. If the U.S. Border Patrol catches an immigrant in the act of crossing the border, it is a violation of Title 8 of the U.S. criminal code. The vast majority of these cases result in deportations, not prosecution.

The truth is that more than half of immigrants without the proper documentation start out as legal immigrants. They come here with a tourist visa or some other type of visa with a time limit and stay beyond that time. The "illegal presence" of being in the United States is not a violation of the U.S. criminal code. It's a civil immigration offense and can result in fines or deportation.

So often, when anyone advocates for legalizing immigrants to satisfy California's farm labor needs, opponents push back angrily and say they don't want to give a free pass to criminals who stream across our borders.

Those who take a hard line on immigration are often very sensitive about it and accuse people like me of accusing them of being racist.

Hear this: I don't think you're racist. I think you're misinformed. And the biggest piece of misinformation that must change is the idea that all "illegals" should be treated the same and be deported.

This idea fails to acknowledge that states such as California have a strong need for cheap labor that immigrants provide.

And this idea fails to acknowledge that immigrants such as Chahal can be brought here as children, not knowing they are undocumented for years, and then wake up one day to the realization that the life they love in America is not truly theirs.

Prosecute and deport those immigrants who commit crimes in the United States. But don't label those who are here simply without documentation as criminals. If you do, you are misstating federal immigration law.

And you are preventing any and all efforts to create laws that take labor needs and personal circumstances into account.

Even though Chahal had no say in her immigration status, some of you advocate putting her – an outstanding honors student – on the first plane back to India.

You purport to defend an American rule you don't even understand.

The Fourth of July isn't just about waving the American flag. It's about understanding what it stands for.

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Call The Bee's Marcos Breton, (916) 321-1096.

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