One thing that frustrates conservatives is the purposeful conflation of legal immigration and illegal immigration when liberals throw around terms like “anti-immigrant.”

Most people on the right support border security and oppose unlawful entry into the country.

However, we celebrate those who do things the right way to become citizens of the United States. They’re honorable individuals who love this country and want to be a part of it, and we welcome them with open arms.

One of them is Minnesota Twins pitcher Fernando Rodney.

The Dominican Republic native came to the United States as a young man after he was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in 1997.

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The pitcher spent a few years in the minors before beginning a 16-year major league career in which he has played for nine different teams. He’s had the opportunity to travel across this country and see just how great it is, and along the way he decided he wanted to become a U.S. citizen.

Rodney patiently worked his way through the sometimes difficult immigration process, and finally, this week, at age 41, he became an American.

The Twins raised eyebrows Sunday when they brought in the closer with one out in the fifth inning in a game against Tampa Bay; Rodney hadn’t pitched that early in a game in over a dozen years. After getting the final two outs, he made his exit.

On Monday, Rodney revealed the reason for the team’s unusual move in an Instagram post: He had to leave that afternoon to fly to Miami in order to finalize his citizenship.

“After 19 years in this wonderful country today I am blessed to say that I am an official US Citizen,” the veteran pitcher said.

He went on to thank “all those who have been with me throughout the process,” including the Twins “for allowing me to catch my flight” and the Tigers, who he said “made this dream possible 19 years ago.” Rodney added the hashtags “USA” and “USCIS” — for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

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It was the culmination of a long process. Rodney passed his citizenship test the morning of May 2, 2017, during a road trip to Washington while he was with the Arizona Diamondbacks, and later that day he earned a save against the Nationals.

“It was exciting, first to take that step and then to come and save the game,” Rodney told the Arizona Republic. “It was a wonderful day.”

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He said at the time he had two brothers and a sister back in his native Dominican Republic whom he wanted to bring to the United States.

Congrats to @F_Rodney56 on becoming a United States citizen! 🇺🇸 Check out his story & post on Instagram: https://t.co/u5yP02j08Q pic.twitter.com/bBDP1edQrc — Minnesota Twins (@Twins) July 16, 2018

Congratulations to Fernando Rodney on becoming a U.S. citizen, and thanks for providing an excellent example of the legal immigration we welcome.

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