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Aug 9, 2003 Illegal immigration is out of control and outrageous. I hope you're not offended. That isn't a politically correct statement. Our immigration policies are victims of political correctness. It is very possible that a great many Americans may also become victims of political correctess in the near future. In a free and open society like ours, it is crucial that we make intelligent, careful decisions in regards to security. Our policies must be well- thought out in order to maintain our security AND our freedom and openness. It is important that we remain a beacon of freedom for oppressed people around the world. It is not important strategically, or politically. It is important historically, because we are the United States of America. Our policies are badly broken and we all know it, yet no one seems to want to fix it. It is a simple fact that middle-eastern men can, very easily, pass for Mexican men. Are we to think that the people, who were smart enough to come very close to simultaneously blowing up a dozen airliners over the Pacific Ocean, don't know this? Are we to think that the people that attacked the U.S.S. Cole, not with an Exocet anti- ship missile, but with a fishing boat, can't see our weaknesses? Are we to think that the people that destroyed the World Trade Centers, by turning airliners into the largest cruise missiles ever employed, will not exploit every one of our weaknesses that they can? They will kill us. We must stop them. It starts in the Middle East. It must stop at our borders. Last year, 80 Iranians were caught in Texas illegally. If any of them were Al-Queda, you can bet they had any paperwork or documents that they needed to get a matricular consular card. They could then get a driver's license and set up shop anywhere in this country and do what they wish with relative impunity. I find it hard to believe that this travesty has not already allowed Islamic fundamentalists into this country. Many cities and states, my own Indiana included, are passing laws right now SUPPORTING this. Have we gone completely insane? Apparently, it is going to take an Islamic terrorist slipping through the system and attacking us from within to force a change. The American people can't even force a change. According to a Fox News Opinion/Dynamics poll, 79 percent of Americans support putting troops on the border to stop illegal immigration. No one in Washington seems to be listening. Neither Democrats nor Republicans are willing to listen, apart from the occasional congressman. Tom Tancredo from Colorado is one of these occasional congressmen. He is demonized as anti-immigration, racist, and every other colorful metaphor that the Left can come up with. Tom is attacked for putting OUR LIVES higher on his list of priorities than political correctness. For every person that gets offended by a little extra scrutiny, many more people will feel more secure and BE more secure. Republicans and many Libertarians(not to be confused with civil libertarians), to their credit, are much more on top of the illegal immigration issue in various ways. However, they are still not listening to 79% of the American people. Votes are a big reason for this. This, in itself, is insane. Assuming every Hispanic person in this country supports open, unsecure borders, which they don't, would you rather please 12% of the population or 79% of the population? One of the saddest idiocies of our immigration policy is our policy with Cubans. We allow thousands and thousands of alleged Mexicans(we really don't know) come here illegally, and are allowed, even invited by some, to stay. Mexicans aren't oppressed. There is no Gestapo, they have open, legitimate elections. Fidel Castro is the most brutal dictator in our hemisphere. Cubans risk life and limb, as do Mexicans, to try to come here. They are guided by a beacon, a beacon of freedom. We seem happy to just send them back to Castro. A couple of weeks ago a group of freedom seeking Cubans made a boat...out of a '51 Chevy. They attached 55-gallon drums for buoyancy, a propeller to the driveshaft, and off they went, much like the pilgrims on the Mayflower. They were in search of the new world, the free world. What ingenuity! What an inspiration! What a great nation that we live in! Now, the truck is on the bottom of the ocean, and the pilgrims are in one of Castro's prisons. Anyone that would go that far, and risk it all for freedom, deserves freedom more than many of us that already have it. Perhaps its not politically correct to want to help people fleeing a dictatorship MORE than people fleeing a democracy, but does political correctness trump human life? Apparently it does. Washington D.C. is responsible for allowing our immigration policies to become a disaster, in many different ways. The screams of the people are falling on deaf ears. Immigration is what built this nation. We are all the descendants of immigrants. Employing some common sense is not to ignore our heritage. It is to protect it. It is a difficult endeavour to be an open and free society and, at the same time, protect approximately 290 million people. It is only a matter of time before our ridiculous ignorance bites us...really hard. We keep asking if anyone is listening, if anyone is home, up on The Hill. Maybe they've just become...comfortably numb. ------------ About the Author: Jonathan Robbins is a 29 year old father of 3, living in Indianapolis, IN. He works as a toolmaker and is currently pursuing a degree in Political Science and History. Jonathan was drawn into politics, current events, and history by the events of 9/11/01. Email Jonathan Robbins: jcrob@hsonline.net Comment on this column in the forum. Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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