Soap Box

I don't blame anybody for wanting to come to the United States, for wanting to be a part of the boundless opportunities and way of life that is so plentiful here. To be free to think or say whatever is in your heart without fear of retribution or revenge.

After all, we're all immigrants a few generations removed, all of our forebears came to America from somewhere else, settled this land, they built it, defended it and worked hard to make it what it is today and our nation has welcomed immigrants from all corners of the world for over two hundred years, to come and become a part of the greatest experiment in liberty ever known to mankind.

To bring their culture and customs, but to assimilate, to learn our language, respect our laws and truthfully pledge their allegiance to America and become part of what makes America strong, the multicolored pattern of people from different backgrounds, religions, cultures and races, with one thing in common that binds us together, the fact that we are Americans, first, foremost and forever.

I remember when I was in the 7th grade and my class took a field trip to the Customs House in my hometown of Wilmington, NC to see a group of immigrants become citizens. It was a solemn, but joyous affair and the culmination of eight years of hard work and devotion.

As I said, I don't blame anybody for wanting to come to America, but it's not right for generations of immigrants who came here legally to wait their turn, study hard and stay on probation before they're made citizens and others can be made citizens by simply walking across a border.

Why have we suddenly changed the rules? Nobody even knows how many illegal immigrants from Mexico and Central America are in this nation now and at a point in time the United States is just going to make millions of lawbreakers legal.

Oh, I know, they claim they're going to shut down the border and make everybody pay fines and go to the back of the line, but I for one have seen way too much government chicanery and experienced too many broken promises to trust them and you can bet it won't turn out the way they're presenting it to the public and it will be 10 times more expensive to expedite and maintain, it always is

There are - at a minimum - 12 million illegals here, and again, I don't trust the government figures and believe there could be 2 or 3 times as many. What is it going to take to process that many people all at the same time?

Certainly it can't be done without a vast bureaucracy to oversee it, another bloated, inefficient monstrosity creating a even bigger government that is bursting at the seams.

If this legislation is passed the official population of this nation could increase by 10 percent practically over night.

As usual, our government rushes to judgment with each party wanting to claim the credit for passing what they call "comprehensive immigration legislation", but I fear it is not comprehensive at all.

1. Without first closing the border, there will be millions more who will flood across the border to become citizens when the effective date of the immigration law is first announced, adding to the burden the tax payers already bear.

2. Does enough background data and documentation exist on these people for us to know who we are taking in.

3. The sponsors of this bill claim that the applicants will not have access to government entitlements and benefits, but we all know it only takes a simple act of Congress to change that.

4. The processing and keeping track of the whereabouts of all these applicants will be tantamount to keeping up with every citizen in California on a daily basis.

It will be a backbreaker, which could well and probably will push the national debt over the precipice we now hang over.

The United States Immigration program was not designed for and cannot handle the load.

Our immigration policy definitely needs overhauling, not overwhelming.

What do you think?

Pray for our troops and the peace of Jerusalem.

God Bless America

Charlie Daniels​