I received this in my e-mail this morning and would like to share it with all of you. There are so many who feel the same way as we do here.
We aren't experiencing Immigration....It is Illegal immigration.

Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the
Orange County (Calif.) Register:



Dear Editor:
So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this
land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we
should tear down the Statue of Liberty because the people now in
question aren't being treated the same as those who passed through
Ellis Island and other ports of entry.


Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to
people like Mr.Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept
this new kind of immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 when there was
a rush from all areas of Europe to come to the United States, people
had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in New York and be
documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees and
kiss the ground. They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support
their new country in good and bad times. They made learning
English a primary rule in their new American households and some
even changed their names to blend in with their new home.

They had waved good bye to their birth place to give their
children a new life and did everything in their power to help
their children assimilate into one culture.


Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no
labor laws to protect them. All they had were the skills and
craftsmanship they had brought with them to trade for a future of
prosperity. Most of their children came of age when World War II
broke out. My father fought along side men whose parents had come
straight over from Germany, Italy, France and Japan. None of these
1st generation Americans ever gave any thought about what country
their parents had come from. They were Americans fighting Hitler,
Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan. They were defending the United
States of America as one people. When we liberated France, no one
in those villages were looking for the French-American,
African-American, German-American, Irish-American and more.



The people of France saw only Americans. And we carried one flag that represented one
country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking
up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were.
It would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed

so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to
be an American. They stirred the melting pot into one red, white
and blue bowl.



And here we are in 2006 with a new kind of immigrant who wants
the same rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by
playing with a different set of rules, one that includes the
entitlement card and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother
country. I'm sorry, that's not what being an American is all
about. I believe that the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in
the early 1900's deserve better than that for all the toil, hard work
and sacrifice in raising future generations to create a land that
has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life.

I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an
example by those waving foreign country flags.


And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of
Liberty, it happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting
on the immigration bill. I wouldn't start talking about dismantling the

United States just yet.


(signed) Rosemary LaBonte



P. S. Pass this on. I hope this letter gets read by millions of people all
across the nation!!