Tear down this wall
I've been reading and hearing much about the subject of illegal immigration for quite some time. Amnesty? Send them back? Keep them out?
All of this brings to mind what President Reagan said about the Berlin Wall. " Mr. Gorbochev, tear down this wall." Well the fence at the Mexican/American border reminds me of this quote. I think it's shameful for a Democracy to use "fencing" to keep illegals out. This administration, which sold itself to the public as "compassionate conservatism ," just does not compute. And I don't care which party has backed the idea of a fence. It is wrong.
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We should enforce the laws which are already on the books. Fine the companies that hire illegals and pay them slave labor wages. If the fines don't work, shut them down. Fire the bureaucrats that allow illegals to collect medicare and medicaid. It's not fair to those of us who worked our whole lives to earn these benefits. Come on Congress, let's do something workable and practical. You were elected to serve the people, well start doing your jobs. Instead of patchwork policies, send our successful business men to show the Mexicans how to run a business. Oh, I forgot, these people are already there, milking the Mexican economy instead of teaching them.
On a personal note, I am a second generation American of Sicilian ancestry. My father, Jack Contino, came to this great country when he was eighteen years old. At the time, he would not have been admitted to the USA if he had had dandruff, a sponsor and a job waiting for him. The rules were stringent, but they applied to all who wanted to come to the USA.
I'm proud to belong to the greatest country in the world. Let us not build fences between our neighbors to the South.
Josephine Contino-Ferrier
Dover
You used the word "illegals", Josephine. Now, which part of the word don't you understand. Maybe we should break down the walls of the safes in your bank. We have plenty of laws to catch those thieves, after the fact. Walls are prevention. They make good neighbors. Just ask Robert Frost.
What is so "shameful" about enforcing our law at the border? We are many years away from the sort of "comprehensive" immigration reform Congress failed to enact, even if more amnesty and sanctuary advocates get elected. The fence is only a small and probably marginally effective part of making people follow the law before they butt in line ahead of those who have patiently waited in line for years.
We need to put MORE fences up! Higher with barbed wire and maybe even an electric fence! We do not need anymore aliens in this country, it is too populated with welfare and such anyhow! Keep those fences high!
In response to some of the mail on my letter RE; Immigration, let me remind you that I do know what an Illegal is. That's not the Point I was trying to make. Probably, you folks were not around when we were at the height of the "cold war." But it was a very scary time. Those people walled in, in East Germany suffered a lot, as they had no freedom. I just don't want the USA to emulate the acts of the USSR and the Third Reich. We are bigger and better than that.And I stand by my call to tear down the fence. It's shameful that AMERICA is doing exactly what we condemned others for doing the same.
Mexico and Latin America today are not even remotely comparable to the East Germany in the days of the Berlin Wall. We welcome victims of political persecution, but we still require them to comply with immigration laws.