Welcoming Legal Immigration

Welcoming Legal Immigration

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

October 1, 2007

The esteemed City Council of Alexandria will be considering, on Tuesday, October 9, with no public input requested, a resolution thrust upon it by the city’s Human Rights Commission that will all but guarantee a safe haven for illegal immigrants and condemn Alexandria to the status of a “sanctuary city.”

As per a memo issued by City Manager Hartmann dated September 14, 2007, unless arrested for the commission of a violent offence, a suspect’s immigration status is not questioned.

Interpreting this portion of the city manager’s memo lets anyone who can get to Alexandria and not commit a violent act stay in this city, and, as a chart indicates, be eligible to attend the ACPS and receive other services for which taxpaying citizens and legal residents are shelling out their legally garnered wages.

Immigration is not a local government responsibility, as cited by Hartmann’s memo. This allows for local law enforcement, which granted, already has its hands full, to turn a blind eye and deaf ear to the possibility that there are people in this city who do not have the legal right to be here.

The Human Rights Commission of Alexandria included in its resolution it expects the City Council to pass, a section “that the City and its various agencies will neither make inquiries nor report on the citizenship of those who seek the protection of its laws or use of its services except as required by law.” [sic]

That said, it is clear and obvious that the laws are antiquated and obsolete so as to encourage and allow those people who do not have a legal right to be in the United States, and therefore the Commonwealth of Virginia or the City of Alexandria, to take up refuge and milk the services cow as paid for by the taxpayer dollars of legal residents and citizens.

It is incumbent upon the federal government to amend any laws allowing state/commonwealth and local governments to turn the aforementioned blind eye and deaf ear and put them in the position to work with the federal government to ensure the safety of American citizens and legal residents via a system of inquiry and notification. After all, what part of “illegal” do people not understand?

The Human Rights Commission of Alexandria has, in part of its resolution, suggests “there exists in our region an escalating anger against the foreign-born and those perceived to be foreign-born.”

Truth be told, the anger is levied toward those persons who are taking up residence here illegally and more so toward the people who support these illegal acts. There is a fair amount of confidence that the majority of those people in the United States illegally have fled from unfortunate circumstances and seek a better life for themselves and their families as millions of immigrants who preceded them.

However, most of the millions of immigrants who arrived on the shores of this great nation during the last century, also escaping some form of tyranny, arrived legally, waited their turn and met certain qualifications. New immigrants were required to pass a physical examination, have the promise of employment and lived with a sponsoring relative. These new immigrants took pride in learning English and adopting their new chosen country’s customs.

What form of tyranny could trump that of the Holocaust? Yet, thanks to the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration, boatloads of Jewish immigrants attempting to escape the horrors of Nazi Germany were unceremoniously sent back to certain slaughter.

All too often new immigrants today expect that we learn their language, call us racist and xenophobes if we do not, and are quick to make demands of services that never even existed in previous decades. Again, what part of “illegal” do people not understand?

The United States welcomes people who play by the rules and wish to contribute to make society better. Anger and resentment is lobbied in the direction of those who wish to break the law and provide safe haven for those who have broken the law simply by their mere presence in this country.

This country is a nation of immigrants, but to expect people to enter this country legally also speaks to the issue of national security. Technology during the last century’s immigration zenith could not have put the United states in the harm that today’s technology can. It is imperative to take as many precautions as is necessary to protect the integrity of American sovereignty so that those wishing to join our society can do so in a safe and legal manner.

Whether from our northern border with Canada or our southern border with Mexico, security needs to be as tight as a drum. This will allow for the protection of all American citizens and legal residents. Citizens and legal residents who deserve equal protection under the law, who deserve seats within the Alexandria school system, who deserve the appropriate services for which they may be qualified, regardless of race or national origin.

The City Council of Alexandria should not pass this resolution put forth by the Alexandria Human Rights Commission. Instead it should urge the federal government to untie the hands of local law enforcement. Again, what part of “illegal” do people not understand?

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria, VA.