Minutemen are patriots, not racists

By: DAN NOVAL - Commentary
NORTH COUNTY TIMES
DECEMBER 2, 2006

It has often been said that "words have meaning." This is especially true regarding the current controversy over illegal immigration, emphasis on the word "illegal."

The recently formed group of Americans known as the Minutemen has been labeled by the supporters of illegal immigration as "racists," "bigots," "KKK," "Nazis," and even "un-American." These pejoratives are used as weapons of intimidation to stifle the will of anyone who would defend the rule of law of our nation. There is nothing bigoted about defending one's homeland against the influx of crime, drugs and economic strain that accompanies the unprecedented flow of illegal immigration hemorrhaging across our southern border.

America has enough homegrown crime; we don't need to import it. Just ask the family of Oceanside police officer Tony Zeppetella, or any other family of the many law enforcement officers who have been murdered by individuals who violated our immigration laws. Just ask any of the North County families ravaged by drug abuse resulting from the lucrative business of smuggling those drugs across our southern border. And finally, just ask our local middle-class families who will admit to being financially squeezed by depressed wages and a tax burden that subsidizes the many social services needed to assist a growing, impoverished underclass. No nation on earth can withstand an invasion of such magnitude. These issues give rise to a needed rebuttal to this paper's editorial of Nov. 26 titled, "Evicting migrant workers not a solution."

The editorial implied that the recent protest to evict the trespassers, aka "migrant workers," from McGonigle Canyon was based upon the contemptible motives of latent racism and selfish publicity. The editorial also singled out the Minutemen for scrutiny when in fact the protest was organized by a cross-section of concerned citizens. This shallow attempt to claim the moral high ground in the illegal immigration controversy is disingenuous at best.

The editorial vaguely mentioned "squalid conditions" but no specific references to hazardous campfires, drug usage, prostitution, open latrines and other disgusting examples that decorum prohibits describing. These "squalid" issues were documented in a recent NBC television news report that was a catalyst for the protest. Also, the "migrant workers" were characterized as "homeless" in order to tug at our heartstrings.

But the editorial conveniently failed to state that the vast majority of those "migrant workers" do in fact have homes in Mexico and other Latin American countries that they left voluntarily to come north, violate our immigration laws with impunity, then, in many cases, send the money they earn home to their families. How can one be "homeless" while at the same time sending money "home"? The oxymoron is glaring.

Today's Minutemen are no different from their forebears of 1775. They are not racists; they are patriots in the truest sense of the word. They are standing shoulder to shoulder to protect the sovereignty of our nation. They are standing on the Lexington Green of our local communities and southern border. What could be more patriotic than that?

Oceanside resident Dan Noval is a retired deputy with 23 years of service for the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/12 ... 2_2_06.txt

Add Your Comments or Letter to the Editor