7 Responses to “tom tancredo to speak at belmont”

1. brittney Says:
   February 24th, 2006 at 4:07 pm

   I wish we’d drastically increase the amount of assimilated legal immigration

   Mind if I ask why?

2. Bob K Says:
   February 24th, 2006 at 5:16 pm

   Brittney, There are many practical reasons, but one major philosophical reason: My family also left an oppressive, hopeless, and desolate past behind when they came here in the early 19th century in search of a better future–which I now enjoy.

   It’s just unfair for me to now deny to the children and grandchildren of today’s downtrodden the same opportunities that I now enjoy only because my ancestors had the foresight to immigrate to the greatest nation on earth.

3. brittney Says:
   February 24th, 2006 at 6:44 pm

   Okay, whoa. This whole time I read that as DECREASE. Good freakin’ thing it’s Friday, hey?

   Sorry to misconstrue you, even in my head.

4. Bob K Says:
   February 24th, 2006 at 10:21 pm

   Brittney, no problem. I said the wrong word too. It should be “emigrate” not immigrate. Technically, they’re opposites, but I think most people probably view them synonymously.

   Sorry to give you two comments in a week that shocked you. I only meant to shock you with one.

5. Chris Wage Says:
   February 24th, 2006 at 11:08 pm

   While I’m definitely anti-illegal immigration, I wish we’d drastically increase the amount of assimilated legal immigration.

   I’d be curious to hear you elaborate on this point.

6. Bob K Says:
   February 25th, 2006 at 9:07 am

   Chris, illegal immigration is not just an economic drain on the United States, it’s a security risk. It was absolute dumb luck that prevented a man, transiting through Canada, from entering Washington State where he intended to blow up the Space Needle on New Years Eve 2000.

   By some estimates, as many as two million people illegally enter the US annually. That makes the odds of finding a clandestine terrorist group very small. Finding that same small group in a much smaller pool of people is mathematically more probable.

   So why are there so many illegal immigrants? Three reasons: America offers unparalleled economic opportunity, we have lax security at our ports and borders, and it is too difficult to enter the US legally. Someone searching for better opportunies for their family is like water or electricity, they follow the path of least resistance. Since there is so much resistance on the path of legal immigration, and virtually none on the illegal route, we have an immense illegal immigration problem.

   There is a wing of the anti-illegal immigration movement that is actually anti-immigration cloaked in anti-illegal clothing. I do not subscribe to that philosophy at all. I welcome new immigrants who want to come here, work, learn our language and culture, and add their flavor to the American melting pot. After 9-11, I believe there should be one other requirement: they should also pass a security screening before entering the US.

   And I believe that if we increased that number of immigrants we allowed into the country, most of those who choose now to do so illegally, would instead follow a legal route of entry into the United States where they could be properly screened and better assimilated.

7. Donna Locke Says:
   February 25th, 2006 at 1:51 pm

   The immigration control/reform movement has since the 1970s been very clear in its mission to reduce ALL immigration numbers, legal and illegal — for reasons you can read on many of our national Web sites. You can start at numbersusa.com, cis.org, and fairus.org. I subscribe to that mission; since my days as a Sixties activist, I have been consistent in my concern about population numbers and preservation of the natural environment and our finite natural resources. Immigration control was a natural next step for me, and my concerns include more than environmental and quality of life issues. It’s important to note that already we have water crises in parts of our country. This situation will spread and worsen and isn’t limited to water supplies.

   Many respected experts agree that we are headed for serious problems if we do not control our population numbers. Immigration is driving most of our population growth now. Even if we stop all immigration tomorrow, we will still have astronomical population growth for many years to come, because of the folks already here who are reproducing and whose children will reproduce. At some point, that would/will level off, but we — or rather, our children and grandchildren — will have a crowded future lacking many of the pleasures of life you take for granted today.

   The immigration-control movement as a whole advocates drastic cuts but not a complete halt to all immigration.

   The United States currently admits 1 million or more legal immigrants annually. That doesn’t include the many illegal aliens in this country who manage to slip into legal status while they are here. This happens daily.

   That said, the nationwide immigration-control movement is an ad hoc coalition — please be clear on that — and that means many groups and individuals have allied to achieve the aforementioned mission or simply part of it, such as reducing/stopping only illegal immigration. The ad hoc nature of this movement also means that many of us in the movement interface on immigration issues only and disagree on other, “unrelated,” policy issues. That is the beauty and the hope of this movement. Except for the very petty among us, we have laid differences aside and are working together on a common mission. If we get nothing else out of this effort, it has been worth it to me to have these bonds with my fellow Americans. Americans truly are a very special people, cognizant on some level of the responsibility we carry by nature of our birth or naturalization in this nation, upon whose strength all of humanity depends.

   Donna Locke
   Tennesseans for Immigration Control and Reform