11/20/2005: "Reader Says: "I'm Really Bugged!!""

To the Editor:

The population of illegal aliens is steadily increasing and many misguided local folks take pains to welcome them.

They came across the border illegally, got a WA drivers license, bought a fake green card, bought a fake social security card (or got a real one with their counterfeit documents) and garnered most of the benefits of tax paying citizens. You wonder what's gone wrong with social security – look at California and you'll get a pretty good idea. Ask if they have auto insurance & then wonder why uninsured motorist policies are so high.

I hear there are tremors of gang activity at Friday Harbor high school and that gang graffiti is starting to show up. Take a look in the internet at gang activity in California, as well as expansion into other areas, and you will see the direction we're heading.

Certainly, do-gooders think they're doing a wonderful thing, but they are really sending wrong messages that harm our society. They provide a function called "Know your Rights" at the public school and "English as a Second Language" at the public library and welcome all without regard to whether the participants are here legally.

What does this say to young people and those who took the time, trouble & expense to arrive legally? It is a clear message that it doesn't matter if you try to do things correctly or illegally – you will be "entitled" to the same benefits. After all, public facilities are used to give the message; it must be right with that patina of respectability.

I have no problem with programs for those who are in this country legally trying to improve their lives. If I knew the question of legal presence of the aliens seeking improvement were addressed and that illegal presences were not allowed, I could help in the improvement efforts.

However, I won't participate to make illegal aliens feel comfortable or that they belong here. They don't – just as trespassers don't get to live in my house, sleep in my bed and eat my food just because they snuck in while I was gone. If I suspect that they are here illegally and see them at local business establishments or public facilities, I'll probably ask to see their green cards and I won't do it quietly.

Those of you who hire them to clean your houses, work in your businesses or do your yard work should be ashamed. You're allowing wages for citizens and legal aliens to be reduced and increasing the impact on public facilities that cost all of us more.

If those in the U. S. illegally genuinely want to be a productive part of our society, they should go "back" and make efforts to return back to the U. S. the right way – even if it's inconvenient and costs a lot of time. Others do it.

Before you do-gooders dismiss this issue out of hand, ask yourselves whether you would do the same for groups of pickpockets or burglars? After all – they're just trying to improve the quality of their lives. Yeah – sure! And all the other criminals are trying to do is improve their lives by stealing from the rest of us.

Do I feel better by getting my nag out of the way? Perhaps so just by expressing it, but there won't be real improvement until we get real about the problem.

Dennis R. Hazelton
San Juan Island