Posted on 12/17/2004 6:59:32 PM PST by CHARLITE
For the majority of my adult life, both in and out of our Armed Forces, I have lived and worked in many other countries. I was not an immigrant, that is, a settler or refugee, yet in all cases, I was subjected to common resident requirements and limitations placed on all émigré’s. Here is a simplified list.
In all cases, I had to have permission to enter, that is, military orders, a passport and/or visa. Issuance of a visa was often based on the completion of a complete physical exam. In all cases, I was required to carry copies of these papers. In all cases it was understood that visas were the sole property of the host country and could be revoked either with or without cause.
I was never granted the privilege to have a drivers license without passing stringent written and performance testing. Swift and severe penalties followed the steps of anyone violating these requirements or local traffic laws.
Entrance as a resident alien over 90 days (even with a passport or visa) had to be sponsored by a local national.
I could not own property.
I could not vote in countries offering such a privilege.
I could not be employed as a resident alien if a local national could fill that job.
In NO CASE were the civil liberties of myself or any family member guaranteed. In several places, there were few “civil liberties.”
I was ineligible for most local social services. Emergency medical care was often sub-standard and costly… but never free.
In most cases, I was a member of a minority.
In one case, I could not practice my religion under any circumstances.
In the case of one country, where we had planned to settle permanently, I had to prove that my wife and I could subsist in all aspects without any help from the local government.
Poor memory makes it impossible to recall all the non-resident and resident alien rules and regulations… there were and are many more hoops to jump through.
Is it all politics?
In light of my personal experiences living and working overseas, I have to ask, why are we so politically correct and free with those rights and privileges won by the millions who made the bloody sacrifice to protect this country? Sadly, it does seem that current political considerations have hijacked the control of our borders and trumped national security.
“OUR GREAT OPPOSITION to illegal immigration should not stem from economics, but from national security. But a quick review of the monetary costs of the ultra-porous U.S.-Mexico border is indispensable.” Isaiah Z. Sterrett” http://www.michnews.com/artman/publish/article_5933.shtml
I submit, that in consideration of the external threats we face, America can no longer play it fast and lose with our border security. To do so is to invite epidemic, economic loss of staggering proportions and potential terrorist attack.
Early immigration
“Ellis Island was the principal federal immigration station in the United States from 1892 to 1954. More than 12 million immigrants were processed here. Over time, the immigration station spread over three connected islands with numerous structures including a hospital and contagious disease wards. It is estimated that over 40 percent of all citizens can trace their ancestry to those who came through Ellis Island. In its early years, Ellis Island mirrored the nation’s generous attitude and open–door policy. After 1920, it was used more for “assembly, detainment and deporting aliens” and symbolized a closing door. Immigrants were required to pass a series of medical and legal inspections before they could enter America. The actual experience of going through inspection or detainment on Ellis Island was often nerve wracking. Even though only two percent of those coming to America were turned away at Ellis Island, that translated to over 250,000 people whose hopes and dreams turned to tears.”http://www.internationalchannel.com/education/ellis/overview.html
There is an immigrant elephant sitting in our national living room. Its mere presence says it is big enough, politically connected and entitled to all the trappings of American citizenship. It refuses to assimilate into our culture, relying instead on liberal alliances that demand our tolerance, our respect and award privilege under the cover of diversity.
I’m a citizen. I vote NO!
Comments:editor@therant.us
I can guarantee you, though, that no 80 year-old white grandma in a wheelchair will get past airport security as she totes a can of Ensure. All the terrorists have to do is come over the border with all the millions of others before them. Big deal, and some Homeland Security....
Control of our borders is more important than ANYONE'S economic plan, cheap labor plan. CONTROL, No one is sayin CLOSE the Borders, CONTROL THE BORDERS.
Double parallel concrete walls topped with Razor wire about 100 yds between the walls, with land mines and motion detectors. Check points into and out, with processing buildings. All Goods, placed into Warehouses until inspected, then US trucking companies pick up and deliver to the interior of the country.
Choppers and Troopers if necessary, ready to deploy. Think how much money we would save in Law enforcement and Drug trafficking. How many jobs this would create, fo rUS Citizens. Control of Immigrant Workers into and out of the country.
The President seems more interested in Protecting the Iraq/Irans and Iraq/Syria borders. What's the excuse going to be when another 9/11 happens, I don't want to hear it. Control the Borders and deport the Illegal aliens.
BTTT
BTT
bump and thanks!
Security STARTS at the borders it don't END there..
Next time you here the word national security...
YOU ARE BEING SCAMMED... Your pocket is being PICKED..
ping
We seem to be suffering from a guilt complex about being a prosperous nation!
BUMP for the truth.
It is the wealthy politicians that harbor the guilt complex.
But our vote doesn't matter on the issue of the illegal alien criminal invation. Our elites have decided that they want dirt-cheap nannies, landscapers, meat packers etc. And that's that.
I call them the RINOOBL's, Republicans In Name Only, Open Borders Lobbyists.
And when we pass initiatives cutting these criminal invaders off from some part of the Great American Teat, liberal judges swiftly declare our vote to be "unconstitutional."
I don't see a solution. Bienvenidos a Aztlan.
I have no guilt, I have worked hard for everything I have. I am completely for border control, national security is vital but to be honest, no one has yet made a good case for why we shouldn't allow more immigrants into this country. Maybe it's just me but the US is the best place in the world to be born. We give our citizens the best education in the world. I can't help but be disappointed when after all the money that we put into our educational system, in the end the only jobs some Americans are qualified for are menial labor jobs. If I were a business owner, I would probably hire an immigrant from a dirt poor country over a American high school dropout (I know they don't have the work ethic)I would be looking for.
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