Today's Letters: Beware the agenda of illegal immigrants

By LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published September 17, 2007

Immigration rally storms D.C. Sept. 13, photo  

The picture on Thursday's front page that shows people protesting in the U.S. Congress' Rayburn House Office Building made me wonder if U.S. citizens could march and chant in a Mexican government building without being arrested. Some of the people were wearing T-shirts reading "Pueblo sin Fronteras" (People without Borders).

The fact of the matter is the United States and all countries do have borders, and people are expected to obey the laws concerning those borders.

The purpose of the pictured protest was to call for an end to deportation raids. If people from other countries break the U.S. law by violating the U.S. borders, why shouldn't they be deported? Do other governments allow this to happen in their countries?

After reading the Times' short blurb about the protest, I looked up the group, Pueblo sin Fronteras, and found a position paper for it and the group La Familia Latina Unida, from which the following excerpt is taken. The address for the Web page is www.somosunpueblo.com/Unify_and_Focus.html.

"The popular coalition has made great gains. We have shown that we are not only for protecting the rights of the undocumented but we are struggling for Latinos to become a voice for justice for all of Latin America. We have supported self-determination and opposed assimilation into this nation's individualistic, imperialistic values. We have taught that our people did not come here because of the American Dream but because of what the American nightmare did to our countries of origin. We have asserted that our demand to be here and to be fully enfranchised here is a right not a privilige (sic) and a destiny of our people to transform this nation."

I am a Democrat and I am not against immigration; our family is blessed with several legal immigrants. However, the groups quoted above have changed my mind on allowing undocumented immigrants to stay in this country. They are not looking to become U.S. citizens and to be a part of our country; they are looking instead to take our country away from us. I will be contacting our senators, congressman and president to say, "Forget immigration reform, just send them home." I hope this letter inspires some of your readers to do the same.

Doris Harting, Palm Harbor  

Debaters spar over Cuba policySept. 10, story

The nation should stick to one language

The presidential debate in Miami, televised in Spanish, made me feel ill! What is going on in this country? This is the United States of America, and English has always been our only language, since the country has been settled.

Theodore Roosevelt wrote that "We have room for but one flag, the American flag ... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language." And let there be no divided allegiance.

Joanne Doan,New Port Richey

Shameful treatment Sept. 12, letter

Deplorable lawmaker

I would like to echo this well-written letter about the foul treatment of Gen. David Petraeus by some members of our Congress. Gen. Petraeus, I thought, gave a well prepared, thoughtful, informative and very professional presentation of both the positive and negative conditions that exist in the battle to control Iraq.

I especially deplored the narrative of Florida congressman Robert Wexler. His demeaning tone and accusations of impropriety and untruths to the general made me feel ashamed that we here in this great state could possibly elect someone who would show such disrespect to a fellow human being, let alone to a decorated soldier in our own army, in front of the whole nation.

The general, admirably, handled his response in a very highly respectful manner. It made me wonder though, if this loud-mouthed congressman would have been so confrontational if they were off camera, all alone, say out in an open field in Iraq?

Guy Nash, St. Petersburg

Shameful treatment Sept. 12, letter

War is our shame

It is not that we don't know how to win a war, it is that we are in a war where we should not be. We had and have no reason to be in Iraq. We were lied to about weapons of mass destruction. And if we say we helped the Iraqis get rid of Saddam Hussein because he was such a tyrant, how many Iraqis have died because of this? Are Iraqi lives better because we are "helping" them?

Yes, we were proud, strong and united after 9/11, but this war is not about 9/11. I don't see Osama bin Laden dead. I see Hussein dead. This war is not about killing the perpetrators of 9/11. This war is about money. The sad fact is that people like the letter writer are so blinded by the reality of why our military is fighting this war, that George Bush is still in office and not impeached.

We are not defending America by being in Iraq. We are shaming America.

I stand and cheer our soldiers for their sense of duty and honor. I pray for their lives and souls. While I try to understand that they are doing their duty, I cannot understand how our leader can justify what is happening to them.

Darlene Kobsa, Palm Harbor

All in the culture Sept. 10, letter

Stating facts

The letter refers to an entertainment brief headlined Goldberg defends Michael Vick on "View."

I saw The View show the writer speaks of and in no way did I see Whoopi Goldberg "defend" Michael Vick. As usual, the media see things that are not there, then everyone repeats it as truth.

Goldberg actually said what most people believe: Plants and animals adapt to their environment. If I tell you that Eskimos clubbed to death beautiful white baby seals because they have been doing it for generations, that does not mean I condone clubbing baby seals. I am stating a fact. That is what Goldberg did. Stated a fact.

P.S. I am not defending Goldberg. I'm stating facts.

Donald F. Kelly, St. Petersburg

Bias on display

This is to protest the bias in your "reporting." This large picture appeared on Thursday's front page. The caption for the image mentions "Proimmigration activists" and a "proimmigration Senate Bill," which is an incorrect and biased view of what actually happened.

These people were "pro-illegal-immigration activists" and no matter what you call it, the Senate bill was defeated because it was about illegal immigration and provided amnesty to illegal immigrants.

Why should my tax dollars support a wealth of social services for them? And why can't you be more honest in your reporting? That picture is nothing but a political statement, not journalism.

Jay Jorgensen, Bradenton

[Last modified September 17, 2007, 08:19:00]