My cousin sent me this letter in an e-mail. The letter was penned by Rosemary LaBonte and sent to the editor of a local newspaper. The paper did not publish it, so her husband David decided to publish it for her. He sent it out in an e-mail requesting that we spread it around the world.
################################################################
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.
Newspapers simply won’t publish letters to the editor which they either deem politically incorrect (read below) or which do not agree with the philosophy they’re pushing on the public. This great letter to the editor 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.
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 was 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
#######################################################
I have often thought we should put a replica of the Statue of Liberty at every Border Crossing. That way anyone who enters legally can enjoy the same experience our parents and grandparents experienced when they came in through Ellis Island. In this day of Disney World it would be an easy matter to design a border crossing exactly like the one in New York Harbor. True, we couldn’t have water dividing the Statue from Ellis Island at every entry point, but we could simulate it with sand or grass. The process could be the same with the exception of modern day computerization.The cost of these entry points can be offset by eliminating the Department of Homeland Security. DHS has only served to make us less secure since their refusal to enforce current immigration laws have allowed every type of miscreant to sneak into the country, so why pay for this huge debacle. The DHS is one thing George Bush did that I never hear anyone complain about, but DHS is the one thing Bush did that I disapproved from the beginning. It was just another far left expansion of the government, and it has been growing ever since. Do you feel more secure with DHS in place? I sure don’t.
There is a huge argument going on about the need for a wall between Mexico and the USA. I, for one, believe the wall is long overdue. The immigrants coming from Europe and Asia have to cross a giant wall, yet no one complains. The walls are called the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Because they come by sea, they must pass through ports where there are points of Customs, and Immigration to pass through. Entrants must possess passports to cross the line. Those from Central America believe their shoes are the only passport required. Instead of a wall with controlled entry points they want paved pathways all along the border to make their entry easier. Think about how much easier it would be to smuggle contraband into the country if those coming in were towing wheeled wagons on paved paths.
Texas and the United States won the war with Mexico soundly, and fairly. We took the land we wanted and then paid the Mexicans for it. It is time the latinos admit they lost the war. Anything other than that is a new declaration of war, and we should deal with it as such. Only this time we will keep every square inch of land we take away from them without any payment. The last time we drove them all they way to Mexico City. We paid for Arizona, New Mexico, and California up to the Rio Grande, and left the remainder for them.
My final thoughts: The Society of La Raza works overtime to open the southern border with free migration of hispanics back and forth like migrating Aztecs, Incas, Mayans, and Apaches. They work to preserve their culture and heritage. I have a question for them. Current Mexican culture evolved from the Spanish. Why doesn’t La Raza work to undo the damage done to their race, and culture by the Spaniards? Answer: Because Spain is a poor country too far away. They would rather invade, and conquer a rich country by claiming falsely that the USA stole from them when it was the Spanish who stole, raped, plundered, killed, and conquered them without any repayment for anything. The Spaniards did such a good job of knocking Mexico into subjugation the Mexicans have adopted Spanish culture and tradition as their own. Their real culture is Aztec, Inca, and Mayan. The Indian culture that occupied the Southwestern North America abandoned the areas because of droughts and other unknown unexplained reasons.
This all reminds me of a movie I saw long ago titled “The Mouse that Roared,” starring Peter Sellers. The story is about a tiny country that is broke and needs money so they decide to declare war and attack the United States. Their rationale was that once the USA engaged them they would surrender and the USA would give them Foreign Aid to rebuild just as they did with every other country they ever engaged with. The movie is a comedy of course, so is the immigration effort of Mexico and Central America
Filed under: Conservative, family, Government, Immigration, Society | Tagged: Ellis Island, LaBonte, LaRaza, Letter to the Editor, Mouse that Roared | Leave a comment »