Immigration Then and Now

For  some reason, people have difficulty structuring their  arguments when arguing against supporting the currently  proposed immigration revisions. This lady made the argument  pretty simple. NOT printed in the Orange County Paper ...................

Newspapers  simply won't publish letters to the editor which they  either deem politically incorrect (read below) or which  does not agree with the philosophy they're pushing on the  public. This woman wrote a great letter to the editor that  should have been published; but, with your help it will get published via cyberspace!

From:

"David  LaBonte"

My wife, Rosemary, wrote a wonderful letter  to the editor of the OC Register which, of course, was not  printed. So, I decided to "print" it myself by sending it out  on the Internet. Pass it along if you feel so inclined. Written in response to a series of  letters to the editor in the Orange County   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 alongside 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 or the German  American or the Irish American. 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 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