I’ve always been a die hard Republican…if there would have been a way for Reagan to serve a lifetime term as president, then I would have said go for it. I supported both initiatives in Iraq. I think George W. Bush is a man caught between a rock and hard place - being the Christian he says he is, and being a politician - I wouldn’t want the job of President, especially in modern times. But I have to say that on all issues that I have agreed with Pres. Bush, there’s one I disagree with - Immigration. Don’t get me wrong, this country was built on immigration. Actually it was built on emigration. People fled their homes because of religious persecution in the 15th and 16th centuries. In the 19th centrury, vast numbers of Europeans fled poverty and the Old World for a chance at a new life in America. Today, Mexicans and citizens from other Latino countries are doing the same thing. The problem is that in the 19th century a majority of those Europeans came through legally, right through Ellis Island. That is not true in our day. You know, I don’t have a problem with people immigrating into the US, as long as it’s done legally. I recently had new floors put into my home, and the installation team for carpet and the hardwood were all Hispanic. The only thought going through my mind the entire time was “Are they legal?” Only one guy in each team spoke English. Yet everywhere I go I see SPANISH on signs. When did we make it the norm that we have to make people here breaking our laws feel comfortabe by letting them know what our signs say? Did our corporations and government post Italian, German, and Chinese on every single freakin sign you would have seen in the late 19th and early 20th century? By forcing people to learn English and use it as their primary communication, it unites our people together and enables easier communication and more efficiency at work. Diversity is killing us. The desire to celebrate differences has made us weak. It has made it harder to come together because we’re so worried about making sure everyone has their voice heard.
Back to my main thing. I know several people who are immigrants - One couple from Romania. He’s Romanian, she’s from South Africa. It took years for them to get their paperwork completed, and they did it the right way. They love America, and it angers them to see people bypass the right way and try to just come in and start working. 11 million? 20 million? The numbers are very hard to figure out. But one thing is for sure. They don’t deserve amnesty. They don’t deserve green cards. I really don’t care if their kids were born here. That sounds cruel, and they can’t help what their parents did. But the parents who came here by breaking the law don’t deserve to enjoy the same freedoms that someone who followed the law does. They don’t deserve to get that driver’s license or to get that health care that my insurance premium is most likely covering. I don’t care if they’re hard working and want to pay their taxes. And it’s just as wrong for any company or businessman that gives these illegals work as if they brought them over the border themselves.
Am I nationalistic? Yes! Am I racist? NO. I’m just tired of people not doing it the right way. This nation continues to exist because ultimately we thrive on our dependence on the RULE of LAW. The Constitution is the ultimate authority for all of our laws to lean on. Regardless of position, the theory is that all citizens come under the law. No official, whatever their office is higher than the law. To skirt around that law, just because we don’t want to offend a certain group of people defeats the entire purpose of relying on the law to be our standard. If you don’t like the law, there are established procedures to change the law. “But it involves so much red tape…..” “It takes too long…..” True. But that also keeps us from constantly being in a state of instability. I think one of the reasons we have had such stability (overall) in our 230 plus years as a nation is that we can’t just change our laws on a whim.
These illegals have blantantly violated the law. I’m sorry if they have needs and wants. We are a sovereign nation with exclusive laws. America guarantees its citizens freedoms and opportunities to succeed. To see people in California flying the Mexican flag over the US Flag or even burning the American Flag makes me sick. Sick over the fact that people that are citizens and obey the law have been forced to acquiece their way of life to make room for people who have no regard for the rule of law, and only care about themselves and no desire to change their own country, but would rather just run and live off of someone else.
Well written article.