A letter to the editor!

I received this in an e-mail today. I love the content......

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 good bye 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 2007 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 yet.



 Rosemary LaBonte