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Thread 7531

Thread ID: 7531 | Posts: 1 | Started: 2003-06-21

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Fire Pen [OP]

2003-06-21 16:53 | User Profile

[Published in The Patriotist 5/14/03 by Charles Angione]

“We are a nation of immigrants” is the mantra of the mass-immigration elites, invertebrate politicians who sell out their country for Hispanic and ethnic votes and unscrupulous businessmen who do the same for cheap labor. Very few people, in fact, who are powerful and/or influential are interested in reducing immigration. The only ones who want illegal immigration stopped and legal immigration drastically limited are the overwhelming majority of Americans citizens.

A Zogby poll in October 2001 found that 76% of Americans believed government was not doing enough to control our borders. Back in 1994, years before the 9-11 attack, a USA Today poll found that fully 82% thought the U.S. should restrict immigration. Later polls agreed. A 1997 Roper pole found that 70% of all Americans favored reducing immigration levels from over a million to less than 300,000 per year, while a majority 54% favored restricting it to less than 100,000.

Despite this clear mandate, almost none of our so-called representatives even talk about cutting immigration, much less propose legislation to that effect. Better to keep the mass-immigration lobby content than risk losing its support by catering to an inactive general public.

America’s long tradition of restricted immigration goes back to colonial times, where Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, and virtually all founding fathers opposed it. Alexander Hamilton wrote, “The safety of a republic depends essentially on the energy of a common national sentiment . . . [F]oreigners will generally be apt to bring with them attachments to the country of their nativity, and to its particular customs . . . The influence of foreigners must, therefore, tend to change and corrupt the national spirit.”

The phrase, “nation of immigrants” was not heard until the 1960s, at which time congress, in effect, threw open our borders. In fact, the period from 1925 to 1965 produced a net emigration from the U.S. Except for periods of increased immigration when our population was relatively small and needed people to settle our frontier or to build an industrial revolution, around 200 thousand visas were normally granted annually. In the past several years, that number has swelled to an unsustainable 1.5 million.

Read the dreary and seldom reported statistics, and you will see that there are 32.5 million immigrants residing in the U.S. This amounts to 11.3% of our population. You will find that immigrants and their children account for more than 70% of our population growth.

According to the General Accounting Office, the net cost to taxpayers for immigration since 1997 will reach $865 billion by 2006. Aside from significantly increasing crime (especially illegal drugs) and welfare payments; mass immigration severely impacts American jobs. It costs American workers $133 billion in depressed wages and lost jobs. A Rice University study estimates that 1.88 million U.S. workers have been displaced from their jobs, because of immigration.

The top ten nations favored for special treatment in immigration in the year 2000 were, in order of number of visas issued, Mexico, China, The Philippines, India, Cuba, El Salvador, Vietnam, Korea, Canada (Canada?), and The Dominican Republic. Talk about culture shock.

Over 11 million illegal aliens live in the U.S., and that number increases by a thousand per day. They are much over-represented on public assistance (50% higher than native born -- the children of illegal aliens alone cost U.S. taxpayers more than $1 billion each year), and in crime (aliens comprise over 25% of federal prison inmates). How long will we be able to withstand this invasion of our institutions and our culture?

Soon, congress may pass legislation to extend social security benefits to illegal aliens, even those who never paid into the system. This will mean that a Mexican can sneak across the border, sign up for social security and return to Mexico to collect his pension. Forget about amnesty for “undocumented” aliens. They already enjoy defacto amnesty.

Unfortunately, those of us whose grandparents or great-grandparents arrived in America around the turn of the century sometimes buy into the “nation of immigrants” rationale. One might be surprised at how many think that poetess Emma Lazarus’ now famous words inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty (“send me you tired, your poor...”) is some kind of official American creed – or even that it appears in our Declaration of Independence. “If not for immigration,” they say, “we would not be here.” It sounds right -- until one looks at today’s very different immigration policies.

Unlike today’s immigrants, our ancestors were required to have sponsors who were actually responsible for them. They had to be considered of good moral character, free of communicable disease and willing to work. None received public assistance (much less priority over American citizens in college admissions, jobs, medical care, etc.). Those who broke our laws were deported, never to return.

By contrast, many of the record numbers of today's immigrants severely impact our crime statistics, overwhelm our social services and join American liberals in expressing contempt for our history and culture. Many, in fact, owe their sole allegiance to their former countries, displaying an ethnic militancy toward the U.S. This even applies to those who too easily become citizens (although there appears to be no advantage in it) with virtually no requirements at all.

Past applicants for citizenship once had to demonstrate an understanding of our language, history and culture. They *studied * for citizenship. There were no mass swearing-in ceremonies, nor was any language used but English. Their relatively small numbers allowed these new citizens to assimilate, prosper and truly contribute to the “melting pot.” If the immigrants, themselves, didn’t always completely Americanize, their children did.

It is not our “diversity” which makes us strong, but our unity. Despite their various ethnic cultures, the different immigrant citizens of yesterday had one highly valued possession in common, which they proudly shared with our native born: They were Americans.

*Charles Angione is a freelance writer whose feature articles and columns have been published in numerous magazines, newspapers and online. He was also a career firefighter in New Jersey for twenty-five years. You may visit his website at * www.enter.net/~chiefops