Letters page
Welcome to the OFIR Letters and Op-Eds section. Here you can read Letters to the Editor and Op-Eds that have been published in various newspapers and news sources.
Naples Daily News
naplesnews.com
Letter: Traffickers
[January 24, 2016] Posted: 9:05 p.m.
Ed Ruff, Pelican Bay
Recent guest commentators on human trafficking and human slavery in America have been passionate in their desire to free the victims and apprehend the perpetrators. Always missing from their plea and related news stories is any mention of Mexican drug cartels and Muslim terrorists.
The FBI website prefaces the extensive reporting on human trafficking with the following statement, which I posted at www.bypopularamendment.com on Sept. 11, 2013:
"It's sad but true, here in this country people are being bought, sold and smuggled like modern-day slaves. They are trapped in lives of misery, often beaten, starved and forced to work as prostitutes or to take grueling jobs as migrant, domestic, restaurant or factory workers with little or no pay. We're working hard to stop human trafficking, not only because of the personal and psychological toll it takes on society, but also because it facilitates the illegal movement of immigrants across borders and provides a ready source of income for organized crime groups and even terrorists."
It's true that American citizens and legal immigrants are kidnapped and forced into slavery, but when they are there is a police report recording their taking. When the Mexican drug cartels and terrorist organizations smuggle men, women and children across our southern border with Mexico and enslave them, they vanish and are rarely heard from again. They are invisible to us.
The blunt truth is that any person who supports open borders, illegal immigration and amnesty or legal status for those here illegally gives aid and comfort to drug and human traffickers, terrorists and slave owners. Ignoring this truth discredits the guest commentators, news reporters and the newspaper, too.
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TribLIVE | Opinion/The Review
Close the borders
Letter to the Editor
Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, 9:00 p.m.
Updated 55 minutes ago
Donald Trump's immigration policy does not go far enough. We should declare our borders closed entirely for three or four years.
We need to correct and strengthen our immigration laws.
The moratorium would give us time to build the wall between Mexico and the United States. It is enough time to process the illegal immigrants already detained and deport most of them.
There should be no more anchor babies. If you are illegal and caught, within 24 hours you should be on a bus, plane or train headed out of the country. You do not get a free lawyer, free room and board or any rights of American citizens. Illegal is illegal. This should apply to illegal people of any age, even children.
This will also give us time to thoroughly screen Muslim immigrants. The question isn't if there are terrorists among them; the question is how many terrorists are among them. We have enough homegrown and immigrant terrorists here now. This would not be discrimination — nobody gets in.
Let us fix our borders and stabilize our economy. Americans and legal immigrants will benefit from our improved immigration policy.
Kathleen Bollinger
Fawn
http://triblive.com/opinion/letters/9756074-74/illegal-borders-immigrants#axzz3y7v7CYGG
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The State
JANUARY 23, 2016 12:10 PM
Letters: Haley out of line attacking Trump
Columbia, SC – I watched President Obama’s State of the Union and shook my head. I have never seen a leader so disconnected from the needs of the country and the justified fears of the people. He reminded me of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s disconnected, misguided leadership on immigration. That will soon lead to the death of that nation, as may happen here.
Then I watched as Gov. Nikki Haley failed in her responsibility to speak against the president’s speech and in its stead launched an attack on Republican Party frontrunner Donald Trump.
Watching the president and then the off-base rebuttal by Haley was like being sick at your stomach, followed by having diarrhea. The Republican Party seems to have lost touch with reality, the people it represents and conservatism.
RICHARD GOSNELL
SPARTANBURG
http://www.thestate.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article56149675.html
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SJ Statesman Journal
PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Enforce the law addressing illegal immigrants, too
2:47 p.m. PST January 23, 2016
If only Oregon’s Democratic Gov. Brown and the rest of the Democrats in this country felt as strongly about illegal immigrants occupying our country as they do about the refuge occupiers. I especially loved her words, “... I will not stop insisting that federal officials enforce the law.”
A few dozen armed ranchers on a bird refuge and what an outcry. But a few million illegal immigrants in our country, many committing crimes and others possibly terrorists who would like to kill us? Doesn’t seem to matter to these people.
Ginger Gerlach
St. George, Utah
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BND BELLEVIEW NEWS-DEMOCRAT
January 23, 2016 1:00 PM
Terror threat warrants closing our gates
To Frankie Seaberry, what makes her think that if Obama could do what she is claiming about ISIS and cancer we Republicans wouldn’t be happy? Problem is, not only would he not ever be able to do this, but he hasn’t done many things like he and most of his party want to claim, and instead of taking some responsibility for things that are wrong, they want to blame it all on Republicans. I wonder what polls are saying that Americans are for their kids going to fight ISIS? Where is she getting that from? There are, however, stories about many Americans seeing stuff online from ISIS and deciding they will join up.
Since there is a big possibility of a terrorist coming into the United States with all the other immigrants, we would more than likely — for now, at least — be much safer if we did stop them from coming in. They, (Homeland Security and others,) apparently can’t keep them from coming in completely, with what happened in California. Does Frankie really want another attack like that? Since ISIS can obviously be very clever, I wouldn’t trust them at all. They proved easily that they can get in without much trouble.
She talks about many of the writers being narrow-minded, seems to me like she is the one doing that.
Lori Felts, Worden
http://www.bnd.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article55554640.html
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The Boston Globe
LETTER
In immigration debate, sympathy for American workers is long overdue
JANUARY 23, 2016
Marcela GarcÍa foretells the woes that would befall companies in the restaurant, agribusiness, construction, landscaping, and newspaper delivery sectors if the United States were to enforce its immigration laws (“The US economy runs on immigrants,” Ideas, Jan. 17).
Not once does she consider the possibility that companies in these industries could just increase wages to attract American workers in place of illegal immigrants. In this regard, she falls in line with the bipartisan consensus that employers are entitled to an endless supply of cheap labor and illegal immigrants are entitled to stay in the country that they broke into.
García seems to evince no sympathy for American workers, many of whom have suffered stagnant wages or have been displaced from the labor force as a result of mass immigration. The resulting sense of economic insecurity is driving the remarkable campaign of Donald Trump. Finally, a candidate is running on the novel platform that the American president should put Americans’ interests first.
Matthew Burwell
Cambridge
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G BILLINGS GAZETTE
Is Ted Cruz a man without a country?
[January 22, 2016] 14 hrs ago
I have known Ted (Rafael) Cruz practically from the day he was born. I, a U.S. citizen, was working for Elf Oil, a French oil company as a geophysicist. We had contracted Rafael Cruz, Ted’s father who owned a seismic data processing business that processed our field seismic data. We had a very close relationship with him for several years. As you are undoubtedly aware, Ted Cruz was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, in 1970. My wife and I had three offspring that were born in the U.S. They lived their formative years in Canada and ended up marrying Canadians. They in turn blessed us with five grandchildren.
I was made aware when I applied for landed immigrant status allowing me to legally work in Canada that if we had grandchildren born in Canada, they would have to decide before they were 18 years of age if they were to become Canadian or U.S. citizens. If they wanted to become U.S. citizens, paperwork had to be filled out and approved, and before their 18th birthdays, they would have to go back to a U.S. Port of Entry, meet with a U.S. immigration official, take an oath and swear allegiance to the United States. Four of my five grandchildren have certificates signed by the president of the United States stating that they are now citizens of the United States of America. Unfortunately, my oldest grandson failed to honor the birthdate deadline, and it appears that should he want to become a U.S. citizen, he would have to fill out applications like any other foreigner and go to end of the line. I question the validity of that last statement in light of Cruz’s proceeding arguments.
Ted Cruz was born in Canada. Since his mother is a U.S. citizen, Cruz claims that automatically makes him a U.S. citizen. I would think he would have had to have gone through the same paperwork and swear allegiance to U.S. immigration officials. Where is his document from the U.S. president, telling him he is now a U.S. citizen? Why can’t my oldest grandson become a U.S. citizen if he so desires? After all, his mother was born in the U.S.
Ted Cruz renounced his Canadian citizenship some 18 months ago. Could it be he is a man without a country?
Charles E. Schweiger
Billings
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BND BELLEVIEW NEWS-DEMOCRAT
January 22, 2016 1:00 PM
Obama puts Muslim in charge
Do you feel safer? President Obama has now appointed a Muslim to the position of Assistant Director for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration. Ms. Noor has little if any experience in the compliance or enforcement fields. Her total experience in government-related work is limited to volunteer work with World Relief Memphis and as activities coordinator for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition. She recently completed a month-long research fellowship in Muslim psychology.
Is this like the fox guarding the chicken house? (Or) is this like Obama’s experience as a community organizer before becoming president.
Charles Robinson, Collinsville
http://www.bnd.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article55522560.html
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Naples Daily News
naplesnews.com
Letter: About time
[January 22, 2016] Posted: 5:16 p.m.
Stanley A. Scheiner, Naples
It's about time. How rewarding that those in our government have taken their heads out of the sand.
The laws that were established specifically for Cuban immigrants recognized their plight with their communist government. As benevolent as the USA is known to be, Americans opened their arms and purse strings to give them a "start up" for their life in our wonderful country.
I have been a resident of South Florida for 48 years, experiencing the Mariel boat lift, an agreement between Fidel Castro and President Jimmy Carter. Certainly a humane, compassionate act. Unfortunately without any vetting and fully aware that Castro exported criminals, the mentally ill as well as trouble makers were among the 125,000 admitted.
Throughout the ensuing time period that has elapsed, I have become aware through personal conversations with honorable Cubans that when there is a honey pot around it is difficult to deny the temptation to get a little.
I am aware of those who continue receiving all the benefits the federal government offers fall into three categories:
1. Those who truly need it.
2. Those who continue their benefits while acquiring work (under the table).
3. According to an article in the Daily News, collecting benefits and then going back to Cuba, the land they fled.
It has taken only 40-plus years for our government to realize this existing scheme at the expense of law-abiding American taxpayers.
Where was the cry of the Cuban-American politicians who, until now, protected the unique benefits their countrymen now receive?
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myCentralJersey.com
PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK
LETTER: Immigration quotas the American way
12:06 a.m. EST January 21, 2016
I have been watching all the debates, both Republican and Democratic. I am myself a Republican, but I don’t like the Tea Party and I hate the NRA. I have heard all the screaming about high taxes, low hourly wage, undocumented immigrants, poor infrastructure, terrorism, bigotry, and I could go on and on.
But there are enough topics nobody wants to mention, even Donald Trump. When it comes to immigration, what about quotas? What about assimilation? What about this country’s Judeo-Christian culture? Until the super-liberals became so aggressive, there were always immigration quotas. The quotas were designed for two reasons — to preserve our basic culture and to satisfy occupational needs. When the potato famine hit Ireland in the 1800s, the Irish arrived under quotas, traveled west and worked assiduously to build the nation’s railroads. They helped to unionize many of those industries. They divested their traditional clothing and became policemen in many eastern cities.
Likewise, the Italians arrived and became shipbuilders and construction workers. The Scandinavians arrived, went to the Midwest and were helpful in establishing the wonderful agricultural farms that we have now. The Asian-Americans arrived on the West Coast, worked in restaurants and established laundries. All of these nationalities arrived under quotas, were documented at Ellis Island and other coastal cities, adopted American clothing and culture and celebrated their native clothing and culture on special holidays. They were all documented and quotas were adjusted according to needs.
Now the liberals cry for open borders. Come on in Nigerians, Bosnians, Mexicans, Guatemalans and whoever else wants to arrive. We have plenty of jobs, lots of benefits and bring your own culture. Muslims can arrive uninhibited. Wear your veils to cover your face, only showing your eyes. Have your women walk 10 feet behind you and beat them if they look at another man. It’s in the Koran.
California now has a population of 50 percent Hispanic. Arizona and New Mexico will follow. Speaking Spanish is a must for many Americans. Dearborn, Michigan is now more than 50 percent Muslim. There is talk of Sharia law. The U.S. has somewhere in the number of 12 million undocumented aliens.
How many will it be 10 years from now? Twenty-two million? Don’t worry about terrorism. They all will be patriotic Americans. How about the infrastructure and education? Don’t worry about it. We won’t let anyone say Merry Christmas or Happy Chanukah. We’ll soon make Ramadan a national holiday. We’ll subsidize all schools and raise taxes. But don’t let my diatribe bother you. After all I’m only a bigot.
Don Fitzpatrick
SUCCASUNNA
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lehighvalleylive
Violence in Europe bolstering Trump's anti-immigrant stance | Letter
By Express-Times Letters to the Editor
on January 21, 2016 at 11:21 AM, updated January 21, 2016 at 11:24 AM
In response to Chris Lang's condemnation of the GOP's anti-immigrant stance (letter, Jan. 18), I have to wonder he lives in a bubble or is just another bleeding-heart liberal. Scandinavia and Europe are being overrun with immigrants, mostly Muslim, which is virtually killing the economy and causing fear and panic among the country's populace. Yet huge banners hang over the streets in German towns saying "WELCOME REFUGEES."
These "refugees" come by the tens of thousands into Germany, France or wherever. They are welcomed with little or no education, no money, no job skills and no intent to assimilate, because their culture and religion doesn't allow assimilation.
On New Year's Eve there were scores of incidents of beatings, muggings, robberies, groping and rapes on the citizenry in Cologne, Germany, involving refugees. Initially these incidents were not reported by the liberal press and downplayed by the insanely liberal Chancellor, Angela Merkel. They made every attempt to sweep the incidents under the carpet until women took to the streets demanding justice. They feared a backlash against the refugees.
Merkel states these refugees don't understand our values and we must teach them. Does she plan on getting these mobs into sensitivity training? Good luck with that.
Illegal immigration is the sole reason that a buffoon like Donald Trump is currently blowing away all political rivals, but instead of understanding the American voters' rabid anger, their only goal is to destroy him. Well, we'll see, won't we?
Barry Smith
Lower Saucon Township
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2016/01/refugee_violence_in_europe_str.html
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OWATONNA.com
READERS WRITE: The immigration invasion
Jeffrey Jackson [January 21, 2016] Updated 3 hrs ago
To the editor:
What can you do? Democracy is not a spectator sport. You need to get involved.
Contrary to popular belief, these millions of illegal residents are a drain on our resources. They are not only making a mockery of our immigration laws but also of our labor laws. There is a fast growing underground economy where millions of illegal workers (construction and farm workers, nannies, etc.) are paid below standard wages and such wages are not always reported to the IRS.
Furthermore, many foreign workers remove a substantial amount of their earnings from our economy by sending those funds back to their homeland. That means such moneys are not spent nor invested here.
Many states have already felt the heavy burden of these illegal immigrants on their schools, medical and other social benefits. How can we ever solve our escalating health care costs of US citizens when we cannot (or will not) control the free and exploitative usage of our resources by those here illegally?
We can no longer ignore the ramifications of the above factors. They are a threat to our national security. The tolerance for "separation" instead of traditional assimilation, the huge illegal numbers here who retain allegiance to their homeland, and the ineffectiveness of protecting our borders from the entry of further terrorists require immediate attention. They are destructive to the unity and identity of our country.
This isn't about race. This is about a culture that is destroying America, and we had better quit pandering to it.
Paul Westrum
Albert Lea
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SJ Statesman Journal
PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Screen all immigrants regardless of religion
10:37 p.m. PST January 20, 2016
It seems our official compassion for refugees from the East is highly selective. We are to accept many thousands of Muslims and, to screen them for terrorists, is un-American based on freedom of religion.
Why is it not un-American to totally deny refuge to Christians who are being systematically slaughtered in the Muslim nations?
I think I see a pattern here. Christian officers are being drummed out of our military and any who remain must keep quiet while Muslim religious customs are observed.
I think all immigrants should be screened for terrorist background regardless of the delays involved. Our survival may well depend on it. Look what is happening in Germany, France, Belgium and England.
Elmer M. Werth
Grand Ronde
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Amarillo Globe News
amarillo.com
Opinion > Letters to the Editor
Letter: Immigration has changed in America
Posted: January 20, 2016 - 5:21pm
This country has a proud history of immigration.
My grandparents came to this country in 1914 from an area in eastern Europe called the Ukraine. It is now the independent country of Ukraine.
I have discovered that most Americans don’t know much about history. Throughout history, the Ukraine was one of the worst areas to live.
My grandparents already had relatives here, which made it easier for them to come. Back then, it was common for family members to come over one at a time.
My grandparents were poor when they came over, and apart from the help they received from their family, they never went on any kind of welfare. In fact, there was not much of any kind of government welfare back then. Also, they did not break the law by coming here — they were legal.
My grandparents did not have much at first, but they knew if they worked hard, they could better their lives.
After my grandfather learned English, he worked in a steel mill for more than 40 years — like so many immigrants did in Pittsburgh back then — and he made a good living for his family.
My grandparents also put a strong desire in their children to better themselves. Their two sons became medical doctors — my uncles.
I’ve discovered that a lot of people want to come to America to go on welfare. Some statistics indicate almost half of immigrants — legal and illegal — are on some kind of government welfare. A lot of immigrants — legal and illegal — teach their children to go on welfare.
Welfare is becoming generational in America, and a lot of Americans are included in this group.
Immigration has changed in America in the past 100 years. Most of the immigrants that came here when my grandparents did went to work. A lot of the immigrants that come now go on welfare.
Malcolm Campbell
Amarillo
http://amarillo.com/opinion/letters-editor/2016-01-20/letter-immigration-has-changed-america
If only Oregon’s Democratic Gov. Brown and the rest of the Democrats in this country felt as strongly about illegal immigrants occupying our country as they do about the refuge occupiers. I especially loved her words, “... I will not stop insisting that federal officials enforce the law.”
A few dozen armed ranchers on a bird refuge and what an outcry. But a few million illegal immigrants in our country, many committing crimes and others possibly terrorists who would like to kill us? Doesn’t seem to matter to these people.
Ginger Gerlach
St. George, Utah
Advocates for stricter immigration controls are accused of lack of compassion for refugees and illegal immigrants. What is true compassion for the millions of citizens of other countries who risk their lives to get into the U.S. and Europe illegally or claiming to be refugees?
The numbers of migrants fleeing turmoil and poverty around the world are rising astronomically. Europe is besieged now and beginning to turn them back. Exactly where do we draw the line at admitting some but not the millions of others desiring admittance?
In a BBC Radio 4 documentary series, “A New Life in Europe,” a Syrian man, head of a family attempting to enter Europe, speaks bitterly of Germany’s accepting some refugee claimants while he and his family are back in the Middle East after failing twice to reach their European destination and be accepted:
“If they would close the door, people would try to help themselves here. ... We would change our plan; we wouldn’t have to keep trying and waiting for another boat. We would look for a better life somewhere else. They are throwing a piece of bread tied to a string and they just keep pulling it away from you.”
That is the situation in Europe and also in the U.S.
“Refugees” are a mixed group, and may include genuine refugees, adventurists, economic migrants, terrorists, criminals and con artists. At present, the verification processes are grossly insufficient as revealed in an examination of procedures by the Center for Immigration Studies, and as reported to Congress by the director of the FBI.
It is not compassionate to expose the population of the U.S. to deadly terrorism from radical jihadists who can easily masquerade as “refugees.”
As the Syrian father said, “If they would close the door, people would try to help themselves here. ... We would change our plan ...”
Closing the door would be best for all concerned.
At present, the United Nations maintains safe areas in countries closer to the places of turmoil, and the U.S. contributes to the costs of these refuges. This is the least disruptive and more practical solution. It facilitates return of refugees to their home countries when stability is restored.
Bringing a small percentage of them halfway around the world to the U.S. enables some people to pat themselves on the back, thinking that they’re more noble and virtuous than others. It must be noted that in the U.S., several organizations have developed with the mission to help refugees, and they grow as self-perpetuating bureaucracies with a vested interest in serving large numbers of clients.
Regarding the present situation in the Middle East, we should help the United Nations to do what it can in that area and not entice immigrants to undertake dangerous journeys on their own to Europe or the U.S.
Also, U.S. citizens have as much right to be concerned about their safety as anyone else in the world. Terrible disasters have happened here caused by Middle Eastern citizens or immigrants; caution by U.S. citizens is justified.
Elizabeth Van Staaveren of McMinnville is a member of Oregonians for Immigration Reform and can be reached at ofir@oregonir.org.
It seems our official compassion for refugees from the East is highly selective. We are to accept many thousands of Muslims and, to screen them for terrorists, is un-American based on freedom of religion.
Why is it not un-American to totally deny refuge to Christians who are being systematically slaughtered in the Muslim nations?
I think I see a pattern here. Christian officers are being drummed out of our military and any who remain must keep quiet while Muslim religious customs are observed.
I think all immigrants should be screened for terrorist background regardless of the delays involved. Our survival may well depend on it. Look what is happening in Germany, France, Belgium and England.
Does anyone remember Rajneeshpuram? When the Rajneeshes were trying to take over Antelope, Oregon, they brought in busloads of people. Most were street people and undesirables. The reason they brought them in was to register to vote to take over Antelope and possibly the county. Remember how frightened the citizens of Antelope, Madras, and The Dalles were?
Well looky here, folks, the gang from Washington, D.C., has done the same thing with letting in any and all illegal folks. Same scenario, only on a grand scale. Oregon will now allow any and all people in. If one wants to lose all liberty, let ’em come.
Take the time to think about what happened and connect the consequences. Ask yourself, could this happen? It could and could not, just deliberate about it.
There have been periods of time in this country where we would not allow emigrants in this United States for years at a time — 1950 through 1962, so that the previous emigrants had a time to assimilate. The people that come in now form their own section of their homeland and don’t want to assimilate.
This is not an absolute statement, it is the majority of individuals. We are losing our count(r)y one step at a time thanks to the lords and dukes of Washington.
Joseph G. Hudson's Jan. 2nd letter to the editor titled "Japanese internment during World War II was 'simply racism'" attempts to compare his family's Irish Catholic immigration experience to America to the debate and plight of up to 10,000 Syrian Muslim refugees being brought to this country. Mr. Hudson's letter does an historical injustice to all the victims of internment during WW II.
The Japanese military government during WW II held captive 3,200 American civilians....these American citizens were nearly starved to death. No reparations were ever paid to the American internees...
Some rhetorical questions for Mr. Hudson: Was the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that killed 2,471 soldiers, sailors and civilians' racism? Was the Japanese military internment of American civilians in the Philippines racism? Was the Bataan Death March, during which hundreds of American soldiers died, some were bayoneted or beheaded, racism? Was the Fire Balloon bombing near Bly, Oregon that killed six Christians on a picnic, five of them children, racism?
The United States government took drastic actions during World War II by the internment of some Americans of Japanese descent to protect all the American people...
America's currently elected government leaders more than 70 years later can still learn lessons from the country's War with Japan and apply those lessons to protecting the homeland...
David Olen Cross of Salem writes on immigration issues and foreign national crime. He is a weekly guest on the Lars Larson Northwest Show. He can be reached at docfnc@yahoo.com or at http://docfnc.wordpress.com/.
In its Dec. 17 edition, the Valley Times ran a front-page story titled “Coming Home” about the Muslim Educational Trust’s new community center on Scholls Ferry Road. In it, MET president Wajdi Said called presidential candidate Donald Trump “ignorant” for his proposal to temporarily suspend Muslim immigration.
Ignorant? America’s European-derived, constitutional system of government respects the free exercise of religion but does not favor one faith over another. How, then, can we admit and hope to successfully assimilate large numbers of people who believe that their faith, even in matters temporal, must reign supreme?
“In Islam,” notes prominent Middle East scholar Bernard Lewis, “there is no distinction between church and state.” Instead, writes author Roberto de Mattei, “religion and politics form a single and inseparable whole ... Among Muslims, power and law do not find their legitimacy in a nation ... but in religion.” Columnist Patrick J. Buchanan is blunter still: “Where Islam is the ruling faith, the Quran is secular law.” If, in years to come, millions more Muslims are admitted to America, what will happen to our long-established church-state separation?
In France, England, Germany and Scandinavia, countless Muslim immigrants and their European-born children consider themselves not citizens of their host nations but members of a worldwide Muslim “ummah,” an Arabic word meaning “community.” They do not merely separate themselves from, but are contemptuous of and antagonistic toward, the native European peoples. Of the continent’s increasing Islamization, writes essayist Daniel Johnson, “there is potential ... for a civil war that could tear Europe apart.” And this state of affairs has come to pass in a mere two generations.
On the matter of Muslim immigration, then, Donald Trump is hardly “ignorant.” He is sensible, courageous, patriotic — and absolutely right.
Our nation has always been a beacon of freedom for those around the world. We are, on the whole, a very compassionate country.
However, the decisions we make as a country can’t be made on the basis of compassion alone.
Many of us are deeply moved by the plight of persecuted Christians and Muslims who are at the mercy of the Islamic State, which was created after President Obama abandoned a then-stabilized Iraq.
The Obama administration has decided that the Christians are on their own and our “compassion” will be given to Muslims. Christians don’t have terrorists in their midst, but we know Muslims do. Sorry, but that’s the truth.
If you were given a package of M&Ms that contained one poisoned candy, would you give it to your child to eat? Common sense would tell you not to.
If common sense is useful in that situation, why not use it to guide decisions on who should be allowed into our country?
Let’s not go the way of Sweden, which committed national suicide with its liberal policies supporting multiculturalism and unlimited immigration. In less than 15 years Sweden’s Muslim population will be greater than its native population.
Anyone who believe Muslims will respect Sweden’s history and culture is mistaken. It’s being swept into the dustbin of history and will become part of the growing Muslim caliphate.
Our government’s No. 1 job is national security. Why should we play Russian roulette with it?
LAS VEGAS It was widely remarked after the last Republican debate, on Nov. 10 in Milwaukee, that Marco Rubio has not been asked any question, in any of the first four debates, about the substance of his signature achievement, the Senate's Gang of Eight comprehensive immigration reform bill.
The next debate is Tuesday here in Las Vegas. A lot as happened since Nov. 10 - Paris, San Bernardino, and a long list of controversial statements by Donald Trump. The moderator, CNN's Wolf Blitzer, has said he'll focus on national security.
But Rubio still has not faced those Gang of Eight questions. And if he's not asked in Las Vegas, there won't be another chance until after the new year, when the next GOP debate takes place in Iowa. So, just in case Blitzer or his colleagues are inclined to bring up immigration Tuesday night, here are five questions Rubio might be asked:
1) Recently Pew Research asked Americans whether immigration should be "kept at its present level, increased, or decreased." Very small minorities - just 7 percent of Republicans, 17 percent of independents, and 20 percent of Democrats support increasing immigration.. Yet the Congressional Budget Office found that your Gang of Eight bill would have raised immigration levels significantly, increasing the U.S. population in the next decade by an estimated 10 million people over the increase that would already occur if current law remains unchanged. Why did you do that?
2) When you wrote the Gang of Eight bill, you often said illegal immigrants who are criminals would not be allowed to stay in the United States. Yet your bill would have allowed illegal immigrants convicted of multiple misdemeanors crimes that could include vehicular manslaughter,, drunk driving, and domestic violence to stay in this country.. You even specified that illegal immigrants had to be convicted of crimes on three separate occasions before they would be disqualified from staying in the U.S. Is that the tough policy you said it was?
3) When you were promoting the Gang of Eight, you said the immigration system should be restructured to bring in more high-skilled workers and fewer low-skilled workers. Yet the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation found that under your bill "a greater number of immigrants with lower skills than with higher skills would be added to the workforce." Why did you structure the bill that way?
4) Your bill would have quickly legalized most illegal immigrants in the United States. Before the bill was released, you claimed that permanent legal status for them would come only after extensive border security measures were put in place. When the bill came out, though, it specified that permanent legal status would be conferred even if the security conditions had not been met. Why the change?
5) You have often spoken out against government over-regulation. When it comes to agriculture, your website has a page entitled "Getting Government Out of the Way of America's Farmers." Yet your immigration bill contained page after page of the government dictating the wages to the penny that agricultural workers would be paid for years to come. FFor example, your bill ordered that agricultural equipment operators be paid $11.30 an hour in 2014, $11.58 an hour in 2015, and $11.87 an hour in 2016. You specified lots of other wages, too. Why?
There are many other questions that might be asked about the Gang of Eight bill; there's a lot in its 1,197 pages. (Readers who want more should see here.) Someday, surely, a debate moderator will ask some of them.
I am in total agreement with Elizabeth Van Staaveren’s Dec. 2 letter regarding Michael Davis’ Nov. 27 commentary.
His childish, disparaging remarks about Donald Trump are totally insulting and disgraceful. I will never read his commentary again.
I believe a newspaper should be nonpartisan and just report the facts and let the readers form their own opinions. However, it is obvious that the Statesman Journal is totally Democratic.
I am a proud Republican and resent being demonized continually. I am a subscriber and deserve to be respected as such.
Donald Trump will repair all the damage done by Obama (immediately) and will “Make America great again!”
