Virgie Bell's View: Used up.

In 1983 Ronald Reagan granted amnesty to 6,000,000 illegal immigrants. Did that solve the problem of those who cross our borders? No. It was just the kind of ruling to encourage even more to come across a border that is just leaking like a sieve.

With 80% of the population against this bill, it is still not settled. Last night before I finally drifted off to sleep, I gave some thought to this. The fact that regardless of how we the public feel about our country and our desire to protect it from those that are here illegally, those like the hijackers of 9/11, what we the people desire just doesn't count. Well now we have hit my stubborn streak. I say to all elected officials, stop this nonsense and secure the borders. Then talk to us about the problem of legalizing the illegal.

At one time, there was a great law when this country was still young and the west still unsettled. It was called the Homestead Act. Fliers and documents were put out to the vast population in the eastern states, proclaiming that if you traveled to this part of America and you met certain requirements, you would be given free title to the land where you met the said requirements. That included improvements such as a little home built and a small acreage tilled. A family could then be rewarded with their little part of the American dream. A place to call their own in which they could raise a family and pass this ownership to their heirs. It was not an easy task to accomplish and required as much as a three year trip on a wagon train to achieve such a dream. A family had to have everything that was needed to sustain them on this trek west and they had to face great danger. There was no way to protect themselves from things such as small pox and other communicable diseases. If you were unfortunate enough that communicable disease made its way to you then your wagon was cut out from the train and you were given a small amount of supplies and left to die, or live as best you could.

For every mile in this way west there were three graves dug, but finally the goal was reached. It was not easy, and in the terms of rugged individualism, it was an enormous undertaking. Land was set aside for townships which included school land, church accommodations and other things necessary to become part and parcel of our land and its occupants. By the early 1900's, it was for all intents and purposes over and done with. There is no more free land. Yes, we are a nation of immigrants. Our forefathers arrived by boats and came by way of Ellis Island. The Statue of Liberty had a sign that welcomed the poor and the down trodden from all over the world. We were a new world and a brave country. Sissies need not come.

If there was still land to be settled, this would still be going on. We have become a country that is full up. No place at the inn and we have no stable unoccupied either. Hard cold facts. To deny it is simply insane. You cannot talk about fairness and leave out truth. So now we hear that we are not being fair to those who cross our border contrary to our laws. Yes, there are jobs that our population has always had to do, those that we would rather not do. I had to hoe a field right alongside my brothers. Our forefathers could look around their tables and the more children they had, the richer financially they could consider themselves. Now if they have more than 2.2 children, they have to view each child as a liability. This too is the truth. So now, we have to view our own flesh and blood as a burden. A cost that requires many families to have both mother and father with jobs outside the home in order to feed a family.

Pray tell why our esteemed leaders are asking us to welcome with open arms those who do not respect our ways or our laws. I join with the other 80% of the population about sealing the borders. Sealing the borders. That is a fact about a problem that seems to have skipped the minds of the political hacks that just see at least 12,000,000 votes up for grabs. We the people see 12,000,000 hungry people. We are trying to feed our own families. Now is the time to see if our laws hold as they are supposed to—or if we have started on the decline just like Venezuela. Think about that. Cling to that and fight for that. Cling to the truth for it will most assuredly be the only way we exist.

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