Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Rights for Aliens

They have tied the world in a tether,
They have bought over God with a fee;
While three men hold together,
The kingdoms are less by three. . .

Let our flag run out straight in the wind!
The old red shall be floated again
When the ranks that are thin shall be thinned,
When the names that were twenty are ten. . .
Algernon Swinburne, "A Song in Time of Order. 1852." Poems and Ballads, First Series. The Poems of Algernon Charles Swinburne. 6 vols. London: Chatto, 1904. 1: xxxi-296, (available via the internet at The Swinburne Project).
While I by no means support, as some evidently do, mass deportations of all illegal aliens in the USA (despite the fact they are here illegally) -- I do find the demonstrations held today, and last year, on behalf of illegal alien "rights" utterly repulsive.
Americans are not barbarians, and I am certain that most of us would not support needless cruelty to persons who have come to our country seeking a better life for their families. I cannot fathom conditions being so horrible that I would voluntarily flee my country for a foreign place, but I would do it to feed my family.
That said, I certainly believe, and I know that millions of Americans do also -- that American citizenship means something precious and special, that is not for everyone. I believe in the concept of nationality. America is not the world employer of last resort. The borders and the flag exist, and are worth defending. A solution to the alien issue must be found, but to talk of rights for persons here illegally is a solecism in terms and an outrage.

1 comment:

Andrewdb said...

We have a very large group of people running a large government agency with LOTS of rules on how one can come to this country. Either enforce the rules or change them. (I prefer the former).