READERS RESPOND
Letters: Immigration nation

Published on: 08/31/06

Anna Cablik should be applauded for taking the position that “it is not right to impose our customs and language on a country that has accepted us” in speaking of immigrants into the U.S. (“English is key, immigrant says. Entrepreneur donates books,” AJC Northside News, Aug. 10).
Until fairly recently, that attitude was simply the common sense norm. Throughout American history immigrants have made it a goal to assimilate into American culture. Learning to speak English was a source of pride.

Sadly, Ms. Cablik’s opinion is not shared by the leftist ethnic groups who preach bilingualism and separatism such as the National Council of La Raza [in English: The Race] and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund [MALDEF].

More sad is that American corporations are the primary donors to these well-funded organizations who label themselves “civil-rights” advocates.

Cablik has used a common catch phrase of these groups: “the immigration system is broken” and observed “I feel for all those wanting to emigrate to the U.S. from Mexico, because there are no visas available.”

Indeed. According to the DHS Office of Immigration Statistics, the number of Mexican-born people who received green cards in fiscal year 2005 was 161,445, out of total legal immigration of 1,122,373. Mexico’s totals were higher than the next two countries, India and China, combined. Maybe Ms. Cablik means that we should accept everyone into our country? If so, we may want to think about making I-75 64 lanes wide instead of the planned 32 in Cobb County. We can figure out the water shortage later. Right?

A poll from last year showed that more than 40 percent of Mexico’s 110 million would emigrate to the U.S. if they could.

We should try to remember that there is no universal civil right to live in the United States. Immigration helped populate America, but like fertilizing one’s lawn, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

We have the highest legal immigration quotas on the planet. We as a nation have nothing to apologize for, and yes, part of the immigration system is “broken.” The enforcing the rules and borders part.

It is past time for Mexican citizens to work hard in Mexico to make theirs a nation that is more like America … not the reverse.

D.A. KING, Marietta

Editor’s note: King is president of the Dustin Inman Society, a Marietta-based coalition of citizens “dedicated to educating the public on the consequences of illegal immigration.”