Petrash: Protecting our national sovereignty is our duty
By Larry Petrash
Sunday, May 23, 2010
On this Memorial Day we should all pause and remember our heritage. We are losing our “Greatest Generation,” the ones who grew up during the Great Depression and made many sacrifices during a great world war. Our fathers, in World War II, saved this country and saved Europe from being enslaved by tyrannical governments hell-bent on world domination and allowed us to be raised in freedom during a time of growth and great prosperity. They are, and have been, great stewards protecting our values and our freedom.
It is our generation’s duty to protect that heritage. We must ensure that the efforts of our forefathers and fathers are not at risk. We are the current stewards of our nation’s sovereignty, where free men and women are given inalienable rights, liberty, and the freedom of conscience.
Now, we find ourselves under attack, from within, from those who seek to change our very way of life. They are “hell-bent” on enslaving Americans by making them ever dependent on government. By so doing, government becomes the master and the people, its subjects. Government should be “We, the people” who work for the better good of our citizenry. What we’ve seen is a government that has denied the will of the people. The vote on health care reform “sticks in our craws.” Government is a tool to be used, with great care, by, and for, the people.
We are entering an era of protectionism. Conservatives, in both parties, and Independents are uniting in a spirit of protectionism. We must deny a radical left wing in Congress, dressed as liberals, who think this country should no longer be governed by majority rule.
Religion, separation of church and state and immigration are, again, great issues of the day. These are issues that have been debated since we became a nation, by our forefathers in the 18th century. Today, we are, again, focusing on immigration.
Theodore Roosevelt said it well: “Our principle in this matter should be absolutely simple. In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here does in good faith become an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with every one else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed or birthplace of origin. But this is predicted upon the man’s becoming in every fact an American and nothing but an American. If he tries to keep segregated with men of his own origin and separated from the rest of America, then he isn’t doing his part as an American. We have room for but one language here and that is the English language, for we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans, and American nationality, and not as dwellers in a polyglot boarding house; and we have room for but one soul [sic] loyalty, and that is loyalty to the American people.”
Mexico, by far, sends the largest number of immigrants to this country. No one knows, for sure, how many have crossed the expansive border. Suffice it to say it’s somewhere between 10-15 million. It’s estimated that half of those are illegal immigrants. For those here illegally, taxpayers, at a minimum, fund their health care and pay for their children’s educations.
In 2005, Dr. John Fonte, Ph.D.. Senior Fellow and Director of the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C., provided testimony before the House Immigration Subcommittee:
“In the 1990s, Mexico changed its strategy towards the United States (e.g., greater economic integration, support for NAFTA, etc.) and towards Mexican-Americans, seeking to build closer relations with both. Shortly before the Mexican Congress enacted its first version of the dual nationality law allowing many Mexican-American citizens to possess dual U.S.-Mexican nationality, Linda Chavez voiced concerns in her syndicated column: “Never before has the United States had to face a problem of dual loyalties among its citizens of such great magnitude and proximity. For the first time, millions of U.S. citizens could declare their allegiance to a neighboring country.”
Immigration reform is a must. But we must, first, gain control of our borders. Law-abiding immigrants who assimilate themselves to our way of life in our society, and pay taxes, just like any other American, are welcome. That said, however, I should never have to dial “1” for English.
Larry Petrash is a member of the Times Record News community editorial board.
