http://www.lahontanvalleynews.com/artic ... /110160018

Nationalism run amok

October 16, 2006

By Josh Johnson

Recently, Pahrump Town Board member Michael Miraglia introduced the English Language and Patriot Reaffirmation Ordinance, a measure that would ban firms from offering housing, loans or giving money to illegal immigrants, as well as accepting foreign identification in his community. The ordinance would also make English the official language and prohibit the display of a foreign flag on its own. If it has the word "patriot" in it, it has to be good, right?

Banking officials are not happy, as should be anyone with an ounce of respect for the Constitution. Public comment and a vote could happen as soon as Nov. 7, according to Associated Press reports. I hope the voters in Pahrump have enough sense to vote this measure down.

If I lived in Pahrump and this garbage passed, I would leave. Quickly.

Forget flying the Mexican flag during Cinco de Mayo. Forget illegal immigrants trying to cash legitimate checks from employers for their work. Businesses may start profiling potential customers based on the language they speak. The prevalence of under-the-table cash as payment to illegal immigrants would increase. I wouldn't utter Spanish within a few miles of the place ... or develop too much of tan. Pahrump might as well erect a sign on the edge of town that proclaims, "Illegal immigrants, or anyone who may appear to be one, are not welcome." Jim Crow lives.

Civil rights seem to be the latest casualty of the country's fervor over illegal immigration issues. In misguided efforts to solve the problem, fanatics are willing to disregard the rights of the very country they claim to love to eradicate the "menace" they say is destroying America. As much as I'm opposed to giving carte blanche to illegal aliens, I think some of the anti-immigrant rancor is subtle racism hidden behind chest-thumping, flag-waving ignorance. It's that same brand of nationalism run amok, prompted by a racial issue, which was taken to an extreme in Nazi Germany. Sadly, I've seen some of that sentiment spewed in Fallon, and I don't think it's going away anytime soon.

By no way is my mockery of Miraglia's proposal an approval of illegal immigration. There's just a far more intelligent way to approach it. The issue has been a problem for decades, not just the hot-button topic that has been politicized in recent months. A comprehensive solution will require more security along our borders, punishment for firms who hire illegal immigrants and improved cooperation with the Mexican government. President Bush's proposal of quasi-amnesty is too soft and a slap in the face to every immigrant who made the effort to be naturalized. If illegal aliens can't get jobs in the United States, they won't come here. Whoever comes up with an effective solution that keeps freedom in mind gets my vote.

When we start sacrificing our own personal liberties to eliminate the presence of those who aren't even fellow citizens, our country's past struggles to expand freedom are for nothing. That type of ideology is, unequivocally, unpatriotic.