April 26, 2008

Saturday Forum

A Georgia Landscaper Has Lost “Half His Customers” To Illegal Alien Workers; etc.

From: Arthur Bucks (e-mail him)

I have been doing yard work since the early 1980s. I did okay until the late 1990s when I have lost over half of my customers because of illegal aliens who did the same work for half my price.

In 1999, I moved into a mobile home park with 175 units. At that time, 170 were American-owned. Now that number has dropped to about 25.

Illegal aliens are killing us by taking our jobs. I could go on and on about how they have devastated the U.S. but I don’t want to dwell on something that you already know.

I’ll close by saying this: I need help!

Joe Guzzardi comments: Stories recounting personal tragedies caused by uncontrolled immigration arrive at our mailbox all too frequently. For people who find themselves in Bucks’ unfortunate position, Juan Mann’s archive is invaluable. His essay How To Report Illegal Aliens is particularly helpful.

[PermaLink] [Top] [Letters Home]

A Retired Advisor To America’s Ambassador To The Vatican Thanks VDARE. COM For “Setting The Record Straight”

From:  Vincent Chiarello (e-mail him)

Re: Chilton Williamson’s Column: A Practicing Catholic Considers Why “The Church” Is Wrong About Immigration

Many thanks to VDARE.COM for allowing Williamson to set the record straight about the Catholic Church and its position on immigration.

An important concept Williamson did not mention is "prudential judgment," wherein the Church permits a member to decline to accept its teachings when they are not part of what is referred to as "the Deposit of Faith."

Allowing, nay, encouraging illegal aliens to enter the U.S. falls within that area of disagreement. Catholics are not bound to accept either what the Church as a whole or individual Cardinals like Mahony or Egan endorse regarding immigration. 

As we all know, there is in many Roman Catholic parishes strong opposition to the hierarchy's support of illegal aliens.

Williamson's column offers much illumination for your readers.

And they should take comfort in exercising prudential judgment to guide them when troubled about the Church’s immigration policy.

Chiarello, a Roman Catholic, is a retired Foreign Service Officer whose tours included U.S. embassies in Latin America and Europe. His last, and most memorable, assignment was to the US Embassy to The Holy See. 

Currently, he is on the Board of the American National Council for Immigration Reform of northern Virginia, (ANCIR) whose members offered assistance and advice for the people of Herndon during the recent town elections.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Chiarello’s real claim to fame is that he still vividly remembers the numbers of post World War II Dodgers.

Chiarello’s previous letters are archived here.

[PermaLink] [Top] [Letters Home]

A Roman Catholic Reader Explains The Different Immigration Views Held By Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI

From: Emil Greene (e-mail him)

Re: Joe Guzzardi’s Column: When The Pope Speaks To The US About Humanity, Is Mexico Listening?

The apparently opposing views held by Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI on immigration (the former appearing vigorously pro; the latter, cautious) merely reflect the difference in Europe then and now.

Even though John Paul was always very Eurocentric, Benedict is more so.

During much of John Paul’s era, Europe was fixated on getting rid of Communism. Once the Communists were gone, Europe’s goal became to help the former dictatorships catch up with the rest of the country as quickly as possible.

That meant, over the short and medium term, European Union membership and freedom to create western-style economies. As John Paul saw it, that translated to free immigration because that was best for his beloved Europe. 

But now, with John Paul’s work successfully done, Europe faces massive immigration from poor countries outside Europe whose populations are under intense strain.

Immigrants from Africa and Asia race for nearby Europe for the same reason as Central and Latin Americans head to the United States, the proverbial “better life”

But Europe cannot absorb immigrants without its own welfare state breaking down.

Thus, it is not that Benedict necessarily has a different view about immigration than John Paul.

He’s simply dealing with a different European political environment.

Greene’s previous letter about Frank Miele’s column The K9 Comparison---What Dogs Tell Us About Humans is here.

[PermaLink] [Top] [Letters Home]

A Legal Immigrant In California Says Illegal Aliens Are “Strident” And “Mock Our Military”

From:  Kim Lawler (e-mail her)

I am a legal immigrant to the US and a proud spouse of a U.S. Marine who is a first-generation American citizen and the son of legal, hard working immigrants.

I am disturbed by the stridency of the open borders activists and their "demands" which I read when I monitor their blogs and forums.

As someone who has traveled around the world to work on development and aid projects, often paying for my trips out of my own pocket, I am angered by the tone of the people who call themselves "DREAMERS" and are lobbying for amnesty via the DREAM Act. 

They never talk about giving back or returning to their home countries to help uplift and change them. Instead they only speak about how the DREAM Act, if it ever passes, will be their ticket to a richer life style and enable them to sponsor  their extended families.  They mock our military and deride the military service provisions proposed in DREAM Act legislation. I’m particularly sensitive to this because of my husband military service record.

The level of selfishness and self-interest is breathtaking—especially when they think no one is observing them via the Internet.

Too bad for them that I am!

I printed out some of the more outrageous comments and took them with me to show my Congressman when I protested the DREAM Act along with the rest of last year’s “comprehensive immigration reform” package.

This one posted by “bok873” takes the cake though:

“I have a BA degree and I’m looking for a sponsor. How long would it normally take for me to get that H1 visa and work permit? Greed Card?

Talk about your Freudian slips! “Greed”card?

Will she get fries with that, too?

[PermaLink] [Top] [Letters Home]

A California Asian-American Reader Says Jared Taylor Needs A Broader View

From:  “Long Live Liberty” (e-mail him)

Re: Jared Taylor’s Column: Asians Put Foot In Racial Spoils Trough

While I agree that it's a deplorable trend for Americans of Asian descent to join the likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton in their parasitic race hustling scams, Taylor oversimplifies the political landscape when he claims that groups like 80-20 represent the majority viewpoint of Asian-American voters.

In fact, our beliefs and politics are anything but monolithic.

Many American-born Asian voters have just been as vocal in their support of Ron Paul—as witnessed by the Chinese for Ron Paul website (Mandarin only) that attempts to educate limited-English speaking voters so that they can make informed decisions when casting their ballot.

“Long Live Liberty” is a writer and works on movie production crews.

[PermaLink] [Top] [Letters Home]