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Contributors
J.F. Kelly, Jr. - Contributor
J.F.
Kelly, Jr. is a retired Navy Captain and bank executive who
writes on current events and military subjects. He is a resident
of Coronado, California. [go to Kelly index]
 Time
Now for Action on Illegal Immigration
The border
must be secured…
[J. F. Kelly, Jr.] 5/13/05
With George
W. Bush safely into his final term as president, don’t
look for any significant action by his administration to address
what
is rapidly becoming the hottest issue on the
minds of Americans, namely, illegal immigration. Judging from
the amount of space and time being devoted to this issue by columnists,
editorialists, talk show hosts, bloggers and letter writers,
the issue now concerns Americans as much or more than national
security and the economy although the three areas are clearly
interrelated.
Failure of the federal
government to fulfill its responsibilities to control our international
borders and prevent illegal entry
has been Bush’s gravest failure as a president. He has
shamefully capitulated to those sectors of the business community
and to affluent householders who are addicted to cheap, exploitable
labor. He has pandered to the Hispanic vote in his campaigns
for governor of Texas and for president and has lacked the courage
to protect a basic right of every sovereign state, to wit: the
right to control its borders.
Because of his unwillingness
to act, the congress now must. Illegal immigration is no longer
the concern only of a few border
states that have borne the brunt of the problem and expense for
years. It has grown to a huge national problem that, if left
unchecked, will have disastrous consequences for our children
and grandchildren and hasten our decline to the status of a welfare
state. And if congress won’t act, the people will, inevitably,
be forced to. When their elected representatives continue to
ignore a clear and imminent danger, the citizens also ignore
it only at their peril.
The arguments of
those sympathetic to illegal immigration and those opposed
to it have been recited and debated ad nauseam.
Apologists for illegal aliens resort to arguments that, in effect,
say that it’s acceptable to break our laws and violate
our sovereignty if you need work to feed your family. It is no
great leap in logic, then, to say that it’s also okay to
steal, lie and cheat to do so. Where do you draw the line? Answer:
back at the point where the first law was broken. In a law-abiding
society, one may not pick and choose which laws will be obeyed
or enforced.
When their arguments
collapse of their own flimsiness, they resort to the race card.
Then come the slogans such as: “America
is a nation of immigrants”. But America is not a nation
of illegal immigrants. Lady Liberty’s torch was not intended
to illuminate the way for those attempting to sneak across our
border at night.
Efforts by the feds to deal with illegal immigration have been
pathetically ineffective. Bush lacks the courage to confront
the hopelessly corrupt Mexican government and demand that our
border be respected. Mexico, of course, relies heavily on the
dollars sent home by its human exports. We are thus flooded with
growing millions of unskilled laborers who compete with those
already here, depress wages, inundate our schools and emergency
medical facilities and overburden our welfare and social services.
There is a prevailing myth to the effect that these hardworking
people contribute much to the economy, pay their taxes and get
little in return. The only part of that claim that is totally
accurate is that they are, unquestionably, hardworking. A great
number of them, however, are paid under the table and do not
contribute to the cost of the public services they consume. Hardworking
perhaps, but most have obtained this hard work by breaking the
law, not once, but at least three times. First, by entering the
country illegally. Second, by obtaining false documentation.
Third, by failing to report income. Add to these crimes, such
miscellaneous violations as evading apprehension, trespassing
and endangering lives on the highway, trying to avoid the border
patrol.
But you already know
these arguments. Overwhelmingly, polls reveal, citizens want
to end illegal immigration. It is their
right to demand it. If their elected representatives and law
enforcement agencies won’t act, then the people themselves
must.
How? Take the time now to write and call your elected representatives
starting with the president and continuing on down to your state
representatives. Tell them that you want immediate action to
enforce federal laws regarding illegal immigration, including
sanctions on those who hire illegals and that you want inter-agency
cooperation, not buck-passing. Tell them that you want the border
secured against illegal entry by using the National Guard to
augment the ineffective border patrol. Tell them that you want
local and state law enforcement agencies involved, too. Again,
no more buck-passing over whose job it is. All law enforcement
agencies need to work together on this.
Tell them that their
support of or involvement in any legislative attempt to authorize
special privileges such as drivers’ permits,
however limited, will cost them your political support forever.
Ditto any guest worker program that even hints of amnesty. Tell
them that you are willing to pay more for produce, hotel services,
gardening services and other products and services provided by
American citizens at fair wages.
Conclude your letter
and call with a polite reminder that your future financial
support and vote will be conditioned upon their
specific, prompt and effective action toward halting—not
merely debating—illegal immigration. Tell them, finally,
that you appreciate that these things take time so you are prepared
to wait for a couple of months before initiating recall petitions.
Do it now, while you’re still worked up about it. tOR
copyright
2005 J. F. Kelly, Jr.
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