A Suggestion to the President
The debate over illegal immigration rages on. The President, late to the dance, has finally weighed in on the subject. While getting (rightfully) panned by conservatives for continuing his soft stance towards illegals already in the country, he did hit on several points during his recent prime-time address that have long needed to be said in a public forum. For this, he should be applauded, followed by a close watch to keep him moving in the direction of implementing real solutions to America’s illegal immigration problem. He started by stating the obvious: “For decades, the United States has not been in complete control of its borders. As a result, many who want to work in our economy have been able to sneak across our border, and millions have stayed.” It is said that acknowledging a problem is step one towards solving it.
President Bush continued, “The United States must secure its borders. This is a basic responsibility of a sovereign nation. It is also an urgent requirement of our national security. Our objective is straightforward: The border should be open to trade and lawful immigration, and shut to illegal immigrants, as well as criminals, drug dealers, and terrorists.” I agree wholeheartedly with this sentiment. My only question for the President is, “What the heck took so long?” Apparently everybody but Bush was aware of the decades long problem of poor border security. Better late than never, I guess.
As you know, President Bush said that he will be deploying National Guard units to our southern border to augment the existing border patrol. I think this is a great idea long overdue. Unfortunately, the citizen-soldiers will leave their weapons and ammo behind at their barracks. “The United States is not going to militarize the southern border,” said the Commander-in-Chief. Why not? How will they stop or deter those truly determined to enter our country- spitballs? How come the notion of using the military to defend the country’s borders is so difficult to understand? We’ve done it for Japan, Europe and South Korea for over 50 years- why not our own?
President Bush closed out his discussion on the illegal immigration issue really singing my song: “We must honor the great American tradition of the melting pot, which has made us one nation out of many peoples. The success of our country depends upon helping newcomers assimilate into our society, and embrace our common identity as Americans. Americans are bound together by our shared ideals, an appreciation of our history, respect for the flag we fly, and an ability to speak and write the English language. English is also the key to unlocking the opportunity of America.” I couldn’t agree more Mr. President! Let me be the first to suggest that you immediately issue an executive order replacing all multi-language government signs and documents with English-only ones, like it used to be. Include a mandate for English-only ballots too. Not only will this help persuade newcomers to quickly learn our common language- surely it will save millions of dollars worth of translation and printing costs as well. Nobody loses in this deal!
