MA>        Sons and daughters of modern day immigrants who arrive here
MA>"illegally" also have served, and continue to serve, this nation
MA>honorably in times of crisis.  There are even now literally thousands
MA>of resident aliens in our armed forces serving this nation.
A. The above statement is self contradictory. On the one hand you claim, 
without substantiation I might add, that "illegal" aliens "also have 
served in times of crisis". 
Then you go on to say that "there are literally thousands of RESIDENT 
ALIENS in our armed forces serving this nation". (emphasis added)
B. In order for an alien to serve in the Armed Forces and enlist 
properly, they must be legally here. Otherwise it's a fraudulent 
enlistment. 
C. The phrase "resident alien" means that they are here LEGALLY, NOT 
illegally. They emigrated properly, have legal permanent resident status 
and are NOT present in violation of law. 
D. ie. Apples vs. organges.
MA>        I also question any belief that American citizenship is not
MA>desired by the immigrants of today.  It was only a few years ago that
MA>we granted amnesty to millions of residents who had arrived in this
MA>nation illegally and upon that grant millions immediately began the
MA>process of obtaining American citizenship.  A distinction must be
MA>made between the desire to become a citizen and the ability to do so
MA>being prohibited by the law.
There is little question that the numbers of aliens filing for 
naturalization increase ONLY when Congress passed legislation that would 
have cut aliens (both legal and illegal) off from taxpayer funded 
assistance. 
As for an ability to become a citizen, let me address this issue. There 
are certain requirements, least of which is that an alien wishing to 
become a United States citizen MUST be of good moral character for the 
five years preceding his or her application. 
This means they can't be a criminal. This is NOT an unreasonable 
requirement. Or are you of the opinion that we are lacking in the number 
of criminals we should have and therefore need to import more of them?
Nor is the requirement that one be able to read, write, and speak 
English, unreasonable. Immigrant parents are anxious to have their 
children learn English as soon as possible because they are aware that 
there is a direct corollation between a person's ability to speak, read, 
and write English with the level of success they can achieve. 
Nor is it unreasonable for a prospective citizen who will be able to 
vote and participate in the election process have some rudementary 
knowledge of our form of government. 
Lastly, one must look at the motivation as to why one wants to become a 
citizen. If it is to become an American, I laud it. If it's a means to 
an end, whether it be the ability to receive SSI, welfare, food stamps, 
etc., or to allow one to have their entire extended family emigrate 
here, then I have some serious problems with their motivation. It's 
certainly NOT because they want to BE American but rather to get 
whatever they can from this country.
John Sampson
Rocky Mountain ILKS
jnsampson@ibm.net
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