The Immigration Issue
I think we are getting just a bit paranoid over this whole illegal alien thing. I agree that there are problems with criminal aliens that need to be addressed, but I believe the majority of illegals are not a danger to our society. Are you willing to flip burgers, trim hedges or dig ditches for a living? Most of them just want a chance for a life. A bit of compassion needs to be applied to policy.
What's more, the way we control our borders needs to be carefully assessed. How far are we willing to go? Sure, we could build our own "Iron Curtain" and construct a wall along the Mexican and Canadian borders that is so massive it could be seen from space, much like the Great Wall of China. Some people have embraced the concept of a "Fortress America" and all that it implies. I just think that our own freedoms and civil rights would be the baby that gets dumped with the bathwater.
I am a 6th generation American, descended from an illiterate Frenchman trying to escape Napoleon's tyranny and make a new life for himself in the new world. He married a woman of English descent, also a recent immigrant, and together they produced eight children. He lived to see two of his youngest sons come home from the Civil War in caskets. Serving in the US armed forces has been a family tradition ever since, and I put in my seven years as well.
I'm not interested in hearing anyone question my patriotism, or my right to live in this country.
However, I know there are a few people who's ancestors have been here longer than mine. Most of them live on reservations, and can trace their roots back to the last Ice Age.
Did we get their permission before we moved in? With rare exceptions, that answer would be no. We took it by force of arms. In their eyes, we are the invaders - illegal aliens and worse.
Have we become a compassionate nation? Or do we still do business at gunpoint?
We need to give this issue a lot more thought, I think, before we become something other than the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.
What's more, the way we control our borders needs to be carefully assessed. How far are we willing to go? Sure, we could build our own "Iron Curtain" and construct a wall along the Mexican and Canadian borders that is so massive it could be seen from space, much like the Great Wall of China. Some people have embraced the concept of a "Fortress America" and all that it implies. I just think that our own freedoms and civil rights would be the baby that gets dumped with the bathwater.
I am a 6th generation American, descended from an illiterate Frenchman trying to escape Napoleon's tyranny and make a new life for himself in the new world. He married a woman of English descent, also a recent immigrant, and together they produced eight children. He lived to see two of his youngest sons come home from the Civil War in caskets. Serving in the US armed forces has been a family tradition ever since, and I put in my seven years as well.
I'm not interested in hearing anyone question my patriotism, or my right to live in this country.
However, I know there are a few people who's ancestors have been here longer than mine. Most of them live on reservations, and can trace their roots back to the last Ice Age.
Did we get their permission before we moved in? With rare exceptions, that answer would be no. We took it by force of arms. In their eyes, we are the invaders - illegal aliens and worse.
Have we become a compassionate nation? Or do we still do business at gunpoint?
We need to give this issue a lot more thought, I think, before we become something other than the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.
Labels: immigration, politics
posted by M. B. Dezotell at 4:54 PM
1 comments
