(Name-mce) ListServ More on immigration

Wed Jul 26 18:18:34 EDT 2006

A city councilor from Springfield, Oregon (neighbor city to Eugene),
sent out the following e-mail.  Below his e-mail is an editorial in the
local newspaper.

Anselmo

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From: dave <mailto:chess714 at msn.com> ralston 

Date: 07/13/06 11:02:48 

Subject: Re: FW: Springfield City Council 

I strongly agree with what Mr. Nave has proposed. I believe that we
cannot continue to absorb the flow of illegal immigrants, many 

of whom benefit from government services that our citizens provide, and
most of whom take jobs that americans can and will do,and not just low 

pay jobs, I know this for a fact. 

I have volumes of documentation on "La Raza" , "Mecha" and "The Nation
of Atzlan", these people want to take over the "South West of
America".They want to invade ,and not assimilate. It would be very eye
opening to see what these organizations have to say and I will provide
information to anyone who is not familiar with these groups. 

Mark my words,this is a serious problem that we will have to deal with
sooner or later and I am tired of being politically correct in order to
not offend anyone. This is MY country and I have a right to stand up for
it. 

Illegal immigrants are breaking OUR laws and getting away with it, just
try to go to one of their countries and do what they are doing 

here and see what happens. 

This is "America" and we speak English, love it or leave it. 

I want this sent to all of our City Councilors,and Mayor, please
forward. 

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Ralston's rant

A Register-Guard Editorial    Eugene OR

Published: Friday, July 21, 2006

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2006/07/21/ed.edit.ralston.phn.0721.p1
.php?section=opinion

Springfield City Councilor Dave Ralston is right: This is a free country
where people can be as mean and shrill as they want when discussing
issues such as immigration. 

In an e-mail sent last week to his fellow councilors, Ralston detailed
his views on illegal immigration. 

"We cannot continue to absorb the flow of illegal immigrants, many of
whom benefit from government services that our citizens provide. ...
They want to invade and not assimilate. ... Mark my words, this is a
serious problem that we will have to deal with sooner or later, and I am
tired of being politically correct in order to not offend anyone." 

Ralston urged councilors to support a retrograde plan that would make
English the city's official language and ban day-labor centers. It would
penalize landlords who rent to illegal immigrants and businesses that
hire undocumented workers. 

"This is my country and I have a right to stand up for it," he wrote.
"Illegal immigrants are breaking our laws and getting away with it. Just
try to go to one of their countries and do what they are doing here and
see what happens. This is 'America' and we speak English, love it or
leave it." 

Ralston is not the only politician spouting intolerance these days. The
debate over immigration reform has produced a surprising number of
panderers who would have you believe that immigrants come to this
country only for welfare benefits and to steal jobs - and, oh yes, some
want to blow up buildings, too. 

Let's set the facts straight: Most immigrants, legal and illegal, come
to the United States because they rightly recognize that no other
country in the world offers comparable opportunities. Immigrants have
brought new vitality to the communities where they live, yes, including
Springfield. They have brought new cultures, ideas, entrepreneurship and
an enduring love for America. 

Ralston failed to mention that immigrants have received more than 20
percent of the medals of honor, this nation's highest military award.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, 101 immigrants have died in military action.
Roughly 25,000 non-U.S. citizens currently are on active military duty,
and 26,000 have earned U.S. citizenship serving since Sept. 11. 

While it's legitimate to express concerns over illegal immigration,
Ralston uses inflammatory and inaccurate language to do so. "They want
to invade and not assimilate," is hardly an accurate description of the
immigrants who have moved to Springfield in the hope of finding
prosperity and a better life. Ralston should volunteer at local English
as a Second Language classes before making the ridiculously broad
assertion the immigrants don't want to assimilate. 

"This is my country, and I have a right to stand up for it," Ralston
writes. What exactly does the councilor mean by "my"? Who is included,
and who is excluded, from the United States of Ralston? He goes on:
"Illegal immigrants are breaking our laws and getting away with it. Just
try to go to one of their countries and do what they are doing here and
see what happens." 

That's an interesting passage coming from Ralston, who last year broke
the law but didn't get away with it. The councilor pleaded no contest
last year in Lane County Circuit Court to shooting a blacktail deer out
of season and then borrowing another hunter's tag to place on the
carcass. He paid fines of $299 for each of the two offenses and had his
hunting license suspended for two years. 

This isn't the first time Ralston has paraded his cluelessness. Several
years ago, he protested the council's plans to name a street honoring
Martin Luther King, Jr., arguing there was no public support for such a
move and that political correctness "has gotten way out of hand." 

Ralston got it wrong then, just he does now. It's a councilor from
Springfield, not political correctness, that's gotten way out of hand. 

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