I find it disheartening how some of the articles on your site, written by the children of immigrants to this great land, are sepped in this backward, Roaring twentiesesque xenophobia, directed towards some of the most patriotic people in our country today. In a Los Angeles Times piece yesteday, it was revealed that Lance Cpl. Jose Guiterrez, one the first marines to fall in the new war in the Gulf, was an orphaned immigrant from Guatemala. Yes, an immigrant with brown skin, pretty scary. Indeed, this brave young man journeyed across Mexico at the age of 14 and entered this country, illegaly, eventually finding his way to Los Angeles where he was taken in by a foster family that saw him complete high school -- a luxury not afforded to most in his home country. The second to fall was also an immigrant, named Jose Angel Garibay. His family came to America from Mexico when he was a child, settling in the former bastion of white Conservatism, Orange County-- ground zero of Proposition 187. Now Dr. Way, do you believe that these men, who gave their lives for our country, are a threat to your life, or your property? What about your rights? If anything, they died to PROTECT your right to slam them and their ancestors. Where is the outrage now, Doctor? Your silence is deafening.

Brandon V.,
New Mexico, USA

The following is my response to the reader's letter and comments:

As regards the immigration issue, the position of The Progressive Conservative, USA is one of very strong and adamant opposition to massive, uncontrolled immigration into the United States of America. We believe that immigration should be limited and tightly controlled, much more so than it is under present United States immigration policy, as implemented.

We insist that, in most (but not necessarily all) cases, adult aliens entering the U.S.A. illegally and discovered and apprehended by the authorities should be deported. This is a matter of the greatest importance, especially as regards the mainly overland border between the U.S.A. and Mexico. Present circumstances and practices clearly indicate that the United States of America has lost effective control of its southern border and is now facing a massive migration across that border into the country. This unfortunate and extremely dangerous situation must very soon be brought to an abrupt end. The border between us and our southern neighbor must be brought under control, and kept under control! The flow of illegal aliens across the border into the U.S.A. must be stemmed -- at least severely checked and limited, and, if at all possible, stopped completely.

If the U.S.A. is to continue to be a sovereign and independent nation-state, our national government must retake and retain effective control of America's borders. An essential and inherent element of sovereignty is the right, power, and ability of the government of an independent nation-state to exercise effective control over the nation's borders and over the passage of persons and products across those borders. This sovereign right and power includes exercise of decisionmaking authority regarding which aliens are to be allowed to enter the country and which are to be excluded, and which aliens already in the country are to be permitted to remain there and which are to be deported. This important principle was enunciated as a rule of American constitutional law in the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Fong Yue Ting v. United States (1893) upholding the authority of the United States government "to exclude or expel all aliens, or any class of aliens, absolutely or upon conditions, in war or peace, [as] being an inherent and inalienable right of every sovereign nation, essential to its safety, its independence, and its welfare. . . ."

We also insist that English should be designated by federal, state, and local law as the single official language of our country, that national, state, and local public policy should make it in the best self-interest of legal immigrants to become, as quickly as possible, conversant and fluent in English and assimilated into America's common national culture, and that immigrants' sons and daughters attending America's schools be required to participate in effective English immersion programs, thereby saving them from "bilingual education" programs which relegate them to the category of the longterm "culturally disadvantaged."

We believe that immigration should be limited to aliens who wish to come to America to make better lives for themselves and become loyal and productive American citizens, immigrants able and willing to adopt, in large measure, the common national culture of their new country, work to earn their livelihoods, provide marketable services and products, pay taxes, and thereby make valuable and constructive contributions to American society. We are opposed to public policies and government programs (e.g., immigrant aid) which encourage aliens to come to rhis country primarily for the purpose of receiving public welfare payments and related benefits. If immigrants are to become an undue burden on the American taxpayers, then it makes no sense to allow the aliens to enter the country. The best interest of the American people dictates that permitting aliens to enter the country must be for the purpose of adding to, not subtracting from, our overall economic growth, strength, and prosperity.

It is of the utmost importance that the education of immigrant children not be neglected. A special and continuing effort should be made in this area, and it should be required by law and supported by public budgets. The education of immigrant children should be designed to help each and every child become acculturated to America, i.e., assimilated into the national culture and oriented to function as a committed, loyal, English-speaking American. Anything less than or contrary to an education of this nature should be legally regarded and threated as child abuse, on grounds that the child was provided an education which failed to adequately prepare and equip him or her for leading a useful and rewarding life as a future adult in the U.S.A.

The position of The Progressive Conservative is that American national unity must be maintained, and maintaining national unity requires that America's common national identity (i.e., national culture) be maintained and enhanced. We do not wish to see the United States of America become a Balkanized, multi-national, multi-cultural, and multi- lingual society, or, more accurately, a conglomeration of many societies. To avoid political disintegration and keep America as a single sovereign nation-state, we Americans must continue to have a single, common national culture, with all the various local, regional, ethnic, and occupational cultures within the country being subcultures, integral parts of the overall national culture which always yield to the greater good of the American nation when its safety and/or survival is threatened. We must always be one nation -- a society with one common national culture, including one common official language. For all of us, it must always be the United States of America above all, America above all other nations, above all in the world.

As regards the war in Iraq and any other war in which the U.S.A. becomes involved, we Anglo-American practitioners of "backward, Roaring twenties-esque xenophobia" have just as much right as any other group of Americans to be both proud and appreciative of American military service personnel who put their lives on the line in defense of the United States of America and its people. We have just as much a right to take such a patriotic attitude and experience such patriotic feelings as do Anglo-hating Latino ethnocentric political activists and gang members, bleeding-heart Liberals, Democratic Party political opportunists, and immigration lawyer-advocates

The Progressive Conservative certainly makes a clear distinction between a Latino who is a loyal American willing to risk his or her life in defense of the U.S.A. and a disgruntled Latino pseudo-intellectual or radical-activist secessionist advocating the forcible separation of the American Southwest from the rest of the country and the establishment of a separate and independent sovereign state, the socalled nation of "Aztlan." The journal also distinguishes between a hard-working, law-abiding Latino resident supporting himself and his family through honest employment and one who constantly and habitually engages in major criminal activity inside the U.S.A. (This distinction is made between Anglos as well as between Latinos.) As regards Latinos serving in the U.S. military, the act of a Latino -- whether citizen or alien, whether entrance into the country was legal or illegal -- risking his or her life in America's defense proves, as far as I'm concerned, that the person is a real American -- a truly loyal American who has paid in full all outstanding (past-due) debts he may owe to American society. If his or her legal status is that of an alien, then he or she should be immediately granted citizenship, as a just reward for invaluable service in defending his or her adopted home and country.

Brandon V., I am neither the silent type nor a racist. I am loud, outspoken, and an American Nationalist as well as an American Conservative. My deafening silence and the slamming of particular racial and ethnic groups by The Progressive Conservative are nothing more than products of your runaway imagination, narrow and twisted worldview, and flawed perception of reality. So, please don't wrap yourself in the robes of holier-than-thou sanctimony and self-rightousness. There is no need to rise up in self-righteous indignation and try to demonize those with whom you disagree.

The Progressive Conservative is concerned about the massive flow of illegal aliens across America's southern border and its threat to our economic viability, our safety and security, our political unity, and preservation of the common culture that is indispensable to survival of our nationhood. Apparently, you are not concerned about this matter.

We favor upholding the law of our land in all parts of the U.S.A., that is, maintaining law and order throughout the country, including areas along the southern border. Apparently, you do not.

We are concerned about the plight of American farmers and ranchers living and owning property in rural areas very near or adjacent to the southern border and sympathize with them in their efforts to cope with the problems they face because of the uncontrolled and unchecked flow of illegal aliens across their lands. Apparently, you do not. (After all, who really cares about those "redneck country bumpkins"? What self-respecting smuggler, felon, "Aztlan" separatist, Liberal Leftist ideologue, Democratic Party political opportunist, or immigration lawyer-advocate would be concerned about or sympathize with those benighted "white Conservative bigots," who are probably Republicans (Heaven forbid!) and therefore undeserving of any consideration? Compassion does have its limits!)

The Progressive Conservative is concerned about the numerous thieves, drug traffickers, gangsters, professional seekers of welfare benefits, and other undesirable aliens who pose as genuine seekers of gainful employment and manage to get themselves smuggled into U.S.A., where their activities impose increased costs and burdens on American taxpayers, create problems for American law enforcement agencies, and endanger the lives and property of law-abiding American citizens. We are concerned about the very real possibility that, among the undesirable aliens managing to get themselves smuggled into the U.S.A., will be a significant number of international terrorists bent on forming a fifth column inside our borders and attacking the country from within, committing acts of terror and destruction and killing thousands and thousands of Americans. Obviously, you do not share these concerns, and view them as manifestations of xenophobia, i.e., irrational fear or hatred of foreigners. Well, we neither have an irrational fear of foreigners nor do we hate foreigners. We see our concerns as being entirely reasonable and justified. We believe it is entirely reasonable and justifiable to oppose and seek to eliminate immigration policies and circumstances which jeopardize domestic order, public safety, internal security, and national unity. We believe that it is completely rational and legitimate to advocate immigration policies and conditions that ensure America's control over its borders, severely limited and highly selective admission of immigrants into the United States, an abrupt end (or as close as possible to an end) to the massive flow of illegal aliens into the country, rapid Americanization (assimilation, or acculturation) of legal immigrants already here, and preservation of America's common national culture, language, and history -- the national psychology which forms the glue that holds Americans together as a single nation.

Despite your erroneous conclusions and high sensitivity to political stimuli, Brandon V., your letter does show that you are an incisively intelligent person, a person fully capable of doing a much better job of examination and analysis, provided you take off and throw away the ideological blinders.

A suggestion: Read and examine some of the articles on other issues and get a better idea of what The Progressive Conservative is all about. For example, try the articles on Iraq and the U.S.-Iraq war and those on military defense and national security. Take a look at the single-paragraph, summary statement of my political philosophy, which you will find close to the bottom of the homepage of my website.

I will conclude with this statement: It is commendable to feel compassion for anyone unfortunate enough to be born poor and powerless in Mexico or any other Latin American society. However, if such compassion dictates that particular Americans or groups of Americans ignore and disregard our immigration laws, deliberately look the othen way while those laws are being violated or circumvented, and otherwise encourage and facilitate the flow of illegal aliens across our borders, then that compassion is mistaken, misguided, highly destructive, and contrary to the national interests and general welfare of the United States of America and its people.

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