Guest column
Immigration and terrorism
By Dean Ritz Financial advisor, North Royalton
”Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
These are the final six lines of a beautiful poem by Emma Lazarus, now embossed on a bronze plaque and placed at the base of the Statue of Liberty. This poem is often cited as reflecting a time when America accepted everyone and open immigration made our country great. There is only one problem.
This is all myth and none of it is true. Travel to Ellis Island and take the tour. The tour guides will explain some very interesting facts about who was allowed into this country. Contrary to what some open immigration types would like to imply, the desire to be an American did not guarantee that you could be an American. Immigrants arriving at Ellis Island were vetted and marked with chalk on their clothes indicating physical or mental infirmities. Radicals and those considered morally unacceptable were not allowed in the country. As one historian told me, America wanted healthy people with their sleeves rolled up and ready to work. Paternalistic by today’s standards, single women had to be traveling with a male, a husband, brother or father. The reason was the fear that if they could not find a job they would be forced into prostitution. Those who did not make the grade were put on the next ship back to their country.
If you did make it through the selection process, the next hurdle was getting a job – any job. Remember, there was no government-sponsored medical or dental. There was no social security, disability payments, Section 8 housing, food stamps, or social services. Families had to take care of themselves. Life was brutal for men and never-ending work for women.
The happiest day of an immigrant’s life was the day they raised their hand, pledged their loyalty to the United States of America and renounced their country of origin. They came here not to change America to the country that they left, but to become part of the American culture. Times have changed. This new administration understands that there is a difference between feel-good rhetoric, and protecting American citizens from terrorism.
Celebrities have every right to march, to sing their vulgar songs, wear ridiculous hats, and when the demonstrations are over, retreat to their multi-million dollar lifestyles, protected by the very police that they admonish. While these demonstrators can afford to make mistakes, our government does not have this privilege. A quick story is in order.
I was in training with a large financial firm in the World Trade Center in 1993. This was after the first bombing attack when explosives were detonated in the basement of one tower. When I was there the security was very tight. We all believed that our government was going to keep us safe. That every measure was going to be used to identify the responsible party or group and bring them to justice, followed by immigration reform.
That belief about government protecting us was answered on Sept. 11, 2001 by a group of men who entered this country legally. Taking flying lessons right under our noses, they highjacked four airplanes and proceeded to commit the unthinkable. One of my friends was in the World Trade Center building at the time of impact and survived. When he told me the story of what he saw – unprintable in this newspaper – the wreckage and the dead bodies, I further understood how the world had changed forever.
For me, the years of being politically correct and sensitive are over. This country needs to have a new immigration policy based not on a foreigner’s desire to be an American citizen, but on what America needs from new immigrants. As this president has stated, he wants people to come here that love us, not people that hate us or desire to do us harm.
What if our government had eschewed political correctness after the first attack? Where would we be as a nation had we shown the resolve needed to impose some form of extreme vetting? Perhaps the World Trade Center would still be standing. The casus belli for the Afghanistan and Iraq wars would have never materialized. Perhaps tens of thousands of Muslim civilians would not have died in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and thousands of our own brave military would be alive today.
”Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
These are the final six lines of a beautiful poem by Emma Lazarus, now embossed on a bronze plaque and placed at the base of the Statue of Liberty. This poem is often cited as reflecting a time when America accepted everyone and open immigration made our country great. There is only one problem.
This is all myth and none of it is true. Travel to Ellis Island and take the tour. The tour guides will explain some very interesting facts about who was allowed into this country. Contrary to what some open immigration types would like to imply, the desire to be an American did not guarantee that you could be an American. Immigrants arriving at Ellis Island were vetted and marked with chalk on their clothes indicating physical or mental infirmities. Radicals and those considered morally unacceptable were not allowed in the country. As one historian told me, America wanted healthy people with their sleeves rolled up and ready to work. Paternalistic by today’s standards, single women had to be traveling with a male, a husband, brother or father. The reason was the fear that if they could not find a job they would be forced into prostitution. Those who did not make the grade were put on the next ship back to their country.
If you did make it through the selection process, the next hurdle was getting a job – any job. Remember, there was no government-sponsored medical or dental. There was no social security, disability payments, Section 8 housing, food stamps, or social services. Families had to take care of themselves. Life was brutal for men and never-ending work for women.
The happiest day of an immigrant’s life was the day they raised their hand, pledged their loyalty to the United States of America and renounced their country of origin. They came here not to change America to the country that they left, but to become part of the American culture. Times have changed. This new administration understands that there is a difference between feel-good rhetoric, and protecting American citizens from terrorism.
Celebrities have every right to march, to sing their vulgar songs, wear ridiculous hats, and when the demonstrations are over, retreat to their multi-million dollar lifestyles, protected by the very police that they admonish. While these demonstrators can afford to make mistakes, our government does not have this privilege. A quick story is in order.
I was in training with a large financial firm in the World Trade Center in 1993. This was after the first bombing attack when explosives were detonated in the basement of one tower. When I was there the security was very tight. We all believed that our government was going to keep us safe. That every measure was going to be used to identify the responsible party or group and bring them to justice, followed by immigration reform.
That belief about government protecting us was answered on Sept. 11, 2001 by a group of men who entered this country legally. Taking flying lessons right under our noses, they highjacked four airplanes and proceeded to commit the unthinkable. One of my friends was in the World Trade Center building at the time of impact and survived. When he told me the story of what he saw – unprintable in this newspaper – the wreckage and the dead bodies, I further understood how the world had changed forever.
For me, the years of being politically correct and sensitive are over. This country needs to have a new immigration policy based not on a foreigner’s desire to be an American citizen, but on what America needs from new immigrants. As this president has stated, he wants people to come here that love us, not people that hate us or desire to do us harm.
What if our government had eschewed political correctness after the first attack? Where would we be as a nation had we shown the resolve needed to impose some form of extreme vetting? Perhaps the World Trade Center would still be standing. The casus belli for the Afghanistan and Iraq wars would have never materialized. Perhaps tens of thousands of Muslim civilians would not have died in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and thousands of our own brave military would be alive today.