To the editor:
During the early 1980s Congress under President Clinton passed an immigration bill that for 30 years was never enforced by Republicans or Democrats.
During that same period, NAFTA was endorsed and jobs were sent overseas; Social Security was taxed for the first time; and U.S. soldiers were sent overseas to protect the peace. The country can never be repaid for the lives lost, but it should not bear the expense for those in the non-war zone.
Isn't it time to review those stationed in countries that can afford to build and pay for their own forces? Isn't it time to have our men and women return home to patrol our own borders and close the open-door policy that has allowed friends and foes easy access and placed our country in a very dangerous situation? Do we need more Fort Hoods to wake us up?
U.S. citizens who have worked here all of their lives and paid their taxes for Social Security and Medicaid and Medicare find themselves confronted with politicians — especially the liberals and progressives — who are willing to reduce some of their benefits and raise taxes on Americans who have lived and worked here all of their lives and not raised foreign flags during demonstrations.
These same politicians point fingers at those companies they enticed to go overseas to take advantage of cheaper wages, yet in the next breath want cheap labor to come here to slave for low wages on farms in the Southwest and South.
Meanwhile, why is there no effort to use those still unemployed due to the past hurricanes in the Gulf and Southwest? It is a bad practice to allow still hands to remain so for too long.
The government still uses 12 million as an estimate of the number of illegal immigrants now in this country, while other estimates place it closer to 20 million. Whatever the figure: Are you going to check the backgrounds of all of them for security measures? Are you going to subsidize them through increases in taxes on the existing citizenry? Are you going to allow them to bring in their relatives? Are you going to close the open doors? Are you going to stop the drug trade?
I hope the members of the veterans organizations in this country remember their pledge to protect the Constitution of the United States of America — peacefully.
Edward MacLeod
Wenham
