IMMIGRATION

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 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 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.

(signed)
Rosemary LaBonte