Thread: Public did yoeman work in killing immigration bill

Public did yoeman work in killing immigration bill






John H.

Walker
Managing Editor/

General Manager

As someone who spent nearly 25 years in Texas, with stops in Northwest Arkansas and North Carolina, I was one of the many millions of Americans who had serious problems with the immigration reform bill that I'm still not sure is dead.

Texas was such a diverse state, with such a large Hispanic population that had been there since Day One. It is a state where Hispanic business owners ... or school board members ... or neighbors are not out of the ordinary.


But it is a state where the stress of the social service system is stressed to the breaking point because of the pressures placed by illegal aliens - and the key word is illegal. If they are here illegally from Mexico or Canada or Russia or Honduras, the key word is still illegal.

In West Texas, I was within five or six hours' drive of five border crossings - including one at La Linda where people were either pulled back and forth in a flat-bottom boat or you waded across the Rio Grande in calf-deep water.

But there are thousands of miles in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California where the border is open - and where the 700-mile fence we were promised that would be built along the border is nowhere to be seen.

In Northwest Arkansas, the Hispanic population grew from a few hundred in 1990 to more than 50,000 by 1995 ... and the same was true in North Carolina, where there was a swimilar post-2000 explosion.

I use Hispanics to make my point because that is the border of main concern. It is wide open to all - including several thousand convicted felons who have been given the opportunity to come to America and ply their trade.

The reality is that Hispanics are the main demographic group when the discussion turns to immigration and the reality of the presently failed legislation is that George Bush, Ted Kennedy, Harry Reid and John McCain - in crafting this bill and planning to skate it through on the American public failed to consider the most important factor of all ... the American public.

Americans are concerned about border security - most especially those who have to live with it every day - and they are concerned about the strain that will be placed on them when the social service system becomes even more overworked.

Amnesty is not the answer and yes, we can, indeed, send these illegals home. While there are some who are the so-called "brightest and best," statistics show that more than 80 percent of the illegals have less than our equivalent of a high school education. And yes, the Mexican "bracero," as Lyndon Johnson called them, does work the average American won't - but is the trade out worth it?

Ask emergency room personnel about the impact the illegals have on that part of our system, because our laws won't allow them to turn someone away who needs treatment. Ask educators in districts where they must employ additional personnel to teach those who don't speak our language about the impact? In Thomasville, N.C., Superintendent Dan Cockman said there were 23 different Latino languages and dialects being spoken in that small district in 2005.

And perhaps that is the biggest sticking point with me - the adults who come and refuse to become part of our country except to work, use our services and send their money back across the border. If you want to be here, go through the process ALREADY in place to become an American citizen .. and LEARN the language.

Yes, our America is a melting pot, but a procedure already exists. If those who are illegal haven't begun working to become an American citizen on their own, why should the skids be greased?

Let's build the border fence ... let's deport the felons ... and let's develop a plan to protect our borders and respect the rights of our citizens so we feel like this really is our country.

Only then will the aftertaste not be so much like that following acid reflux.

(John H. Walker is general manager/managing editor of The Daily News. He can be contacted at 732-2565 or john.walker@wickcommunications.com.)
Email this story


http://www.edailynews.info/articles/200 ... n/op01.txt

Let's build the border fence ... let's deport the felons ... and let's develop a plan to protect our borders and respect the rights of our citizens so we feel like this really is our country.

And let's enforce existing immigration law and have immediate attrition and repatriation of illegal aliens.

Originally Posted by olivermyboy

Let's build the border fence ... let's deport the felons ... and let's develop a plan to protect our borders and respect the rights of our citizens so we feel like this really is our country.

And let's enforce existing immigration law and have immediate attrition and repatriation of illegal aliens.

here,here!!

Originally Posted by olivermyboy

Let's build the border fence ... let's deport the felons ... and let's develop a plan to protect our borders and respect the rights of our citizens so we feel like this really is our country.

And let's enforce existing immigration law and have immediate attrition and repatriation of illegal aliens.

Amen to that!!