DH> Mike, my ancestors came to this country in legally, and made their
DH> lives as law abiding citizens. In this they differ in two important
DH> ways from those you are referring to: 1, they entered this country in
DH> accordance with our law and 2, they came with the purpose of becoming
DH> citizens. Most of those who enter this country illegally, not only
DH> break the law by their very presence in this Country, but also show no
DH> sign of loyalty to this country. In contrast I would like you to
DH> consider the case of one Austrian Family who came to this country
DH> during WWII. The Von Trapp family came(legally) as refugees from the
DH> tyranny of Adolph Hitler, and even though they were not yet US citizen
DH> two of their sons served in WWII as American soldiers. IOW the Von
DH> Trapps were willing to lay the lives of their sons on the line for thi
DH> country, from what I hear, few of today's illegal immigrants would do
DH> the same.
 
        Sons and daughters of modern day immigrants who arrive here
"illegally" also have served, and continue to serve, this nation
honorably in times of crisis.  There are even now literally thousands
of resident aliens in our armed forces serving this nation.
        I also question any belief that American citizenship is not
desired by the immigrants of today.  It was only a few years ago that
we granted amnesty to millions of residents who had arrived in this
nation illegally and upon that grant millions immediately began the
process of obtaining American citizenship.  A distinction must be made
between the desire to become a citizen and the ability to do so being
prohibited by the law.
         As for our ancestors coming legally, that is true, but before
the paranoia that rolled over the nation with the rise of the labor
movement and socialism in the early 1900's there were no restrictions
on immigration other than the notorious ban on Oriental immigrants that
was imposed in the late 1800's.  Until seven decades ago only those
with contageous diseases, severe mental disabilities, or known criminal
records were routinely disallowed entry.  There were also periodic
spells of exclusion applied to "anarchists", "Communists", and other
political groups based upon the rage of the moment, but for the most
part anyone who wanted to immigrate could.
         If we were to go back through history and look at our own
ancestors who themselves arrived in waves driven by ecconomic
conditions such as the Irish Potato Famine or the British downturn
after the Crimean War, I honestly believe if the United States had
attempted to throw up barriers to immigration they would have been
unsucessful anyway because the people would have still come.  Even
then, before the turn of the century, less than a third of immigrants
to the United States actually complied with our laws of the time and
registered as immigrants.  Most arrived, blended into the communities,
and within a short period of time merely assumed the rights of a
citizen without ever formerly becomming one.  
           We owe our greatness to an open immigration policy.  Our
years of rapid expansion, growth, and emergence as the dominant
ecconomic power in the world can be directly associated with the level
and freedom of immigration we allowed.  Our general leveling off, and
subsequent relative decline in terms of growth also parallels the
increasing restriveness and social isolationism attempting to be
imposed by the radically differenct course than the traditional one we
have adopted towards immigration.
           Adam Smith himself pointed out that expanding markets expand
wealth exponentially.  We have nothing to fear from immigrants.  They
make this nation stronger and give new energies to our ecconomy.  What
we should fear is those who seek to place us behind a protective wall,
diverting billions of dollars to non-productive causes, and pushing the
concept of social isolationism.  Such policies have already stunted our
ecconomic growth, created a sort of lingering ecconomic stagnation, and
if allowed to continue, will eventually sap us of our future.
DH> I would say that you are comparing apples and oranges.
 
         Any man, unjustly oppressed, who seeks liberty, is the same as
any other.  His cause is just and his right is indisputable before our
Creator.  Life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness are not rights that
cease along our frontier with Mexico, nor are they rights limited to
only those fortunate enough to have been born in a specific geographic
location.  These are the rights of all men.  It is no more than an
exercise of those rights, to live and to pursue happiness as one m,ay
choose, to exercise the God given liberty to go where one may choose to
exercise them.  
         I believe in these principles with all of my heart and I
believe that this nation, of all nations, was created to be an island
of liberty in a sea of servitude, a lifeboat for those who seek freedom
and for those who have no where else to turn.  When I read the passages
written below the statue of liberty, words once held dear to their
hearts by all Americans, I continue to believe in them for they
represnt the very meaning and the very purpose of this great nation.
"Give me your hungry, give me your poor.  Give me the refuge of you
teeming shore who seek to be free."  
         What we once were can be, and to a great deal has been,
changed by those who have chosen to ignore what this nation once stood
for.  I simply do not choose to ignore those great principles nor do I
choose to abandon them.  I still believe in LIBERTY.
 MA> In both cases, those seeking hope and liberty, followed the
 MA> nothern star in hopes of realizing their dreams. In both
DH> Please give examples of countries who have more open immigration
DH> policies.
 
      Most Central and South American nations do.  France did have
until recently.  Canada's policies, per capita, are less restrictive
than our own.  I am not well informed about Eur-Af-Asian affairs or the
polices of those nations, but among the nations of the western
hemispehere, excluding Carribean island nations, only Mexico has a more
restictive immigration policy on paper, though not even Mexico in
practice.  No nation in this hemisphere that I am aware of has the
level of paranoia of the United States.
DH> In a sense you are correct, there are still  countries who guard
DH> their borders to prevent their citizens from leaving!
 
       A half-dozen or so...including our own to some degree.
DH> I have yet to be convinced that our immigration laws are unjust.
  
       I can appreciate that and I seriously doubt my arguments will be
convincing to anyone.  The sheer weight of negative propaganda is
simply too overwhelming.  At best I can only offer a few points:
 
         1. Immigration restrictions are not traditional in the US
         2. They were created by unions and the left
         3. They defy fundamental ecconomics
         4. They are supported to preserve the welfare state
         5. They defy the unalienable rights of all men
         6. They cost us billions of dollars annually
         
DH> Mike, no one is disputing the courage and loyalty of Hispanic people,
DH> rather we are objecting to those who disregard our law in order to
DH> come to our country.
   They are given no other choice.  We like to imagine anyone can come
if they are willing to put their names on a list and wait a few years,
but this is simply untrue.  In most nations, especially non-european
nations, unless you have an immediate relative like a spouse or a
mother or child who is a citizen, or unless you are a doctor or
engineer or some sort of desired professional, there is no list at all.
You can apply, but your name goes into a trash can.  
    For 9 out of 10 in Houndras, for example, who wish to immigrate tot
the United States, there simply is no means to legally do so.  Most, of
course, simply accept this considering the barriers to illegal entry,
but a few are so desperate, so desirous to fulfill their dreams of
coming, that they are willing to run any risk, expose themselves to any
danger, suffer any hardship, just to come.  These are the illegals.
    These are a driven people with strong hearts, strong desires, and
strong values.  They want more than anything in life, more than life
itself, to be an American.  I say more than life itself because illegal
entry is not simply walking across the border.  It is a dagerous and
often fatal experience.  Several hundered a year die in the attempt.
    Coyotes, those how assist illegal immigrants in passing the
frontier, are a notorious lot often robbing or turning over to Mexican
authorities thier victims.  Gangs also prey on illegals robbing,
raping, and sometimes killing them.   Most, it must be remembered, are
also illegally in Mexico and in constant fear of discovery there. Then
the crossing itself which is no cakewalk.  On our frontier here in
Texas the Rio Grande claims dozens of lives a year with swift currents
washing illegals out to sea.  The desert, in the west, also claims many
more lives.  
     It goes on and on and the reward for success?  Working illegally
at wages sometines less than $20 a day, being abused by employers who
know illegals cannot seek the protection of the law...under constant
fear of arrest and deportation.  
     These are not pretty pictures, but they provide evidence of the
deep seated and intense motivation of these people to come to this
country.  No barrier, no wall, no military deployment, no sum of
billions of dollars, will ever succeed in sealing our borders because
none of this can destory men's dreams and their hopes.  As long as
hopes live, immigrants will come.
 
                                              Mike Angwin
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