Guest writer

Rights of a nation

Protecting borders not wrong

Sheldon Richman, in his recent guest column on the immigration bill in the Perspective section, regrets that money and effort will be spent protecting our southern border, something that should have been done (and politicians falsely promised would be done) decades ago.

He says that the new immigration bill overlooks several things, that “all individuals, not just Americans, have rights.” He means like crossing another country’s sovereign borders simply because they want to.

For more years than I can count, I have been asking aloud, “Why does this country, alone among all others in the world, not have the right to monitor its own borders?” Can anyone just cross the borders of Russia, China, Switzerland, etc., without permission?

I wonder what Israel would say to Mr. Richman if he should try to tell them that Palestinians and the Hamas folks are humans, too, and have the right to travel and settle anywhere. On the other hand, I think I know what they would say to him, including the suggestion as to his next destination.

He speaks of an “ancient and honorable principle” that it is okay to disobey any law one considers unjust. So if one thinks laws about filing income-tax forms, or forbidding taking a stroll in a freeway fast lane, or marrying a goat, are unjust, one can just disobey. And accept the consequences. (And the one about the goat, the way American is going, may one day soon be legal.)

I think it is profound irony to note that Mexico, from which most illegals enter the U.S., has its own laws about its borders, and has armed guards on hand to emphasize the point. As anyone from Guatemala who has tried to cross Mexico’s southern border might tell you, a stay in a Mexican jail is not exactly a weekend at the Hilton.

Mr. Richman can’t seem to bring himself to refer to those who have broken our laws as illegals without the quotation marks. I believe America is not “cruel and hypocritical,” as he claims. We are for legal immigration, and our immigration system is not really “broken,” as many claim, if the laws were simply applied.

I have been involved in public ceremonies welcoming and bestowing citizenship on immigrants. The church of which I am a member works year-round in missions and relief efforts to help those in other countries, such as an orphanage in Guatemala and a haven in India for young girls abandoned by their families with a hellish life of prostitution their only alternative. The church’s ministry helps many with food and money and, yes, illegals are welcome. I spent six years in another country involved in all phases of mission work. One of our stations had a doctor and a dentist who provided health care to all who came, without charge.

That’s what Americans do. Some of us, anyway.

We have had years of high unemployment. It’s now at 7.6 percent, and twice as high in many inner-city areas. The influx of “undocumented voters” costs this country multiplied billions every year. Most of them are no doubt nice, hardworking people. But criminals and terrorists can just as easily enter a poorly guarded border. You can send your kid to Harvard (not that I would necessarily recommend that) for less than what it costs to incarcerate a murderer in California.

Mr. Richman says that we U.S. citizens who welcome newcomers but want to stop the invasion we are experiencing “should butt out.”

How dare we express our opinion! I’m an old World War II Marine. I fought for this country’s freedom in the South Pacific. Some politician in Washington promised us hope and change. I’m seeing the “change,” and I don’t like it. I still hope for a change-in leadership and direction.

Mr. Richman used the word “butt.” In the Marines we had a way of telling a fool what to do with his, but the Lord is in my life now, and my vocabulary has undergone a renovation.

I’m a work in progress. He’s still working on my patience.

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Harold B. Chilton lives in Fayetteville.

Editorial, Pages 17 on 07/31/2013

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