Published: November 2001
Author: Andrew Smith

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IMMIGRATION
By Andrew Smith

Our country is extremely generous and possesses some of the greatest opportunities in the world. For these reasons people from all over the globe have come here in order to better themselves through the freedoms that only America provides. To insure that our generosity and opportunities aren't wasted by those that seek refuge inside our borders, certain laws must be enforced. These laws are there to protect and benefit the citizens of our country.

In order for a person to become a citizen they have to comply with a few very reasonable requirements. The first and most obvious is that you have to speak, write, and understand simple English. Second, you cannot have any felony convictions. You must also show that you are not an immoral person. For example, a gambler by profession or a prostitute. You must pass a test on American history and culture, and you must be patriotic. These are the main requirements that someone would have to go through to become a citizen, according to the INS website.

There should be no tolerance for anyone to be an illegal immigrant. If you can't comply with our requirements then stay out of our country. I don't care if your [sic] living in a country where oppression is everywhere or if you're starving or whatever the excuse. All these people have to do is just register as a refugee and then study so that they can be able to meet all of our requirements. It's not as if we're asking them to be indentured servants to earn citizenship. We aren't even asking these people to pay for their naturalization into our Country [sic]. It's simple. Follow the rules and your [sic] in. That is all America is asking from those that want to live here.

Apparently the requirements that our government decided on are too difficult for some to follow. I'll even bet that if I took a stroll through the Canal district in San Rafael that I would find a lot of people that would answer a question of mine with "que?", meaning that they don't speak English and don't know what the heck I am talking about. Seems to me that the only reason why they can't speak English is because they are illegal. I mean it's no wonder why 40% of all immigrants in America live in California. They live here because Mexico is right across the border, comprende? That's about 2.5 million people that aren't legally allowed to even work here. So, if they can't legally work, they have to make money illegal [sic] way. This might include drug dealing, robbery, or even welfare. Others prefer to work with manual labor while being paid under the table tax free.

I don't know why the INS doesn't do a thing about this. It would be so easy for them to bust these illegals. All they would have to do is just illegally hire them and if they can't provide the green card then it's bye bye for them. It would be just like a drug bust where the drug dealer is a cop. Bust them as they buy it. They should treat these people the way the cops should treat a suspected criminal. It can't be hard to find and detain the people that can't speak English. If a person looks suspicious then just stop them and ask a few questions, and if they answer "que?", detain them and see if they are legal. It seems so easy. People like this make our ancestors look like fools. They became American and earned it. The Irish and Asian people built the railroads and lived lives of poverty and oppression. Africans were stripped from their homeland and forced to work as slaves. Their fathers survived to spawn their children into freedom through all sorts of discrimination, The first settlers of this country risked their lives and sacrificed everything for freedom. I'll bet they would be angry to learn that illegal immigrants get in so easily because they don't want to put the work in to pass a test. I am sick of these people insulting us and our ancestors by just waltzing in and abusing our country. There should be no reason for this and America shouldn't be taking this while bending over.

When I spoke to others about this, most said that they only ask for the immigrants to be able to speak our language. Others seem to think there should be a huge wall along the Mexican/U.S. border. While these ideas are understandable, the problem doesn't end with Mexico. There are many types of illegal immigrants from many countries. Criminals usually flee here in order to escape their punishment. Our country has also been the home to a number of terrorists. For these reasons, I feel like there has to be some major reforms in immigration policy. I just hope it happens before our country rots from within.

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