Letter on Immigration

Orange County California Newspaper
This is a very good letter to the editor. This woman made some good
points. For some reason, people have difficulty structuring their arguments when
arguing against supporting the currently proposed immigration revisions.
This lady made the argument pretty simple.
NOT printed in the Orange county Paper ............ ........
Newspapers simply won't publish letters to the editor which they either
deem politically incorrect (read below) or which does not agree with the
philosophy they're pushing on the public. This woman wrote a great letter to
the editor that should have been published; but, with your help it will
get published via cyberspace!
From: 'David LaBonte'
My wife, Rosemary, wrote a wonderful letter to the editor of the OC
Register which, of course, was not printed. So, I decided to 'print' it myself
by sending it out on the Internet. Pass it along if you feel so inclined.
Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the Orange
County Register:


Dear Editor:
So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is
made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should tear down the
Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren't being treated
the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of
entry.
Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like
Mr. Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind of
immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of
Europe to come to the United States, people had to get off a ship and stand
in a long line in New York and be documented . Some would even get down on
their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge to uphold the
laws and support their new country in good and bad times. They made
learning English a primary rule in their new American households and some even
changed their names to blend in with their new home.

They had waved goodbye to their birth place to give their children a new
life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate
into one culture. Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare,
no labor laws to protect them. All they had were the skills and
craftsmanship they had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity.

Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father
fought along side men whose parents had come straight over from Germany
, Italy , France and Japan . None of these 1st generation Americans
ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from.
They were Americans fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan .
They were defending the United States of America as one people.
When we liberated France , no one in those villages were looking for
the French-American or the German American or the Irish American. The people
of France saw only Americans. And we carried one flag that represented
one country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about
picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were. It
would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to
be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be an American. They
stirred the melting pot into one red, white and blue bowl.



And here we are in 2009 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same
rights and privileges only they want to achieve it by playing with a
different set of rules; one that includes the entitlement card and a guarantee
of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's not what
being an American is all about. I believe that the immigrants who landed on
Ellis Island in the early 1900's deserve better than that for all the toil,
hard work and sacrifice in raising future generations to create a land that
has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life. I
think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those
waving foreign country flags.
And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of Liberty , it
happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the immigration
bill. I wouldn't start talking about dismantling the United States just
(signed) Rosemary LaBonte