Yes, the Problem is Immigration

With the recent terrorist attack in Boston, our distinguished leaders in Washington should finally learn a simple but vital lesson.  The main problem with Islamic terrorism in the United States is not internal security but immigration. Decades of liberal policies have allowed our enemies to live among us and left us open and vulnerable for deadly attacks by those who hate us.

Rather than profile Muslims in our midst, and break up terror cells and kick preachers of hate and violence out of the country, we are more concerned with not offending the Arab world than we are with actually protecting our people. This is a recipe for disaster.

Profiling aliens and restricting immigration is nothing new for the United States. At the turn of the 20th century, America was faced with internal threats from terrorists, namely anarchists from Eastern Europe. It was an immigrant terrorist, Leon Czolgosz, who assassinated President William McKinley on September 6, 1901. McKinley’s successor, Theodore Roosevelt, demanded that Congress restrict immigration and rigorously punish those who preach hate and violence toward the United States.

In his message to Congress three months after McKinley’s death, TR urged the House and Senate to “take into consideration the coming to this country of anarchists or persons professing principles hostile to all government and justifying the murder of those placed in authority. They and those like them should be kept out of this country; and if found here they should be promptly deported to the country whence they came; and far-reaching provisions should be made for the punishment of those who stay. No matter calls more urgently for the wisest thought of the Congress.”

Roosevelt and many in Congress had the political will to do what was both right and necessary. They did not concern themselves with hurting anyone’s feelings but did what was right for the country. Congress passed the Immigration Act in 1903 that curbed immigration from “problem” nations.

During Woodrow Wilson’s administration, immigrant Communists began using bombings and other acts of terrorism to target political leaders. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, a bombing victim himself, launched the “Palmer Raids,” with assistance from a young agent named J. Edgar Hoover, which netted thousands of Reds.  All those found to be foreigners were taken to the docks and put on the first boat home. Though many criticized the raids as too harsh, Palmer and Hoover acted in defense of the nation and against foreign influences that were a serious threat.  Because of their work the violence stopped.

But in our current era of political correctness, we would never consider doing anything of that sort.  Instead, we have Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security, stating recently that the Obama Administration is not to blame, for her department has increased the vetting process and the observation of immigrants, and that they found “no derogatory info” on the main Boston terrorist, Tamerlan Tsarnaev.  Except for the fact that Russia warned us to keep an eye on him in 2011, for which he was placed on a terror watch list.

Big Sis failed again.  Along with the Boston bombers, the Fort Hoot shooter, the Times Square bomber, the underwear bomber, and the Arkansas military shooter were all Jihadists who carried out plots or nearly pulled them off on Obama’s watch.

Why the failures?  Our current policy is to infringe on the civil liberties of our citizens, in clear violation of the Bill of Rights, so as not to offend foreigners. Talk about having things upside down and backwards! We are spending billions of dollars on the federal, state, and local level for heightened security and, at the same time, stripping away the freedom and liberty of American citizens.

We get harassed in airports, have our bags searched while getting on public transportation by the TSA, and even have our private emails examined – all in the name of protection and security.  Now the new cry is for more public surveillance cameras and drones to watch our every move.

But who is the real internal threat to America at the present time? Native citizens or immigrant Muslims?

The answer is obvious. So why do we the people have to get harassed and treated like criminals?

It’s past time we put a stop to the erosion of our rights – freedoms that have been paid for by American blood, and focus on the real problem – immigration.  We don’t know who is here, where they are, or what they are up to.  That’s the real danger.

This is not to say all Arabs in this nation are bad but we need to place them under a stronger microscope.  For starters, all student visas to Muslim nations should be stopped, since terrorists seem to like that mode of entry. We simply cannot take any more chances. And we need leaders who possess the intestinal fortitude to do what is right.

So, as we engage in this debate, let us stop and remember the words of one of our great Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin, who warned us that those “ who would give up essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty nor security.”  We deserve neither because we will have neither.

Laurel Leader Call, Saturday, April 27, 2013