America: A nation in distress
Listen to this articleWhen I was a young boy I remember with glee the pure joy of every 4thof July. There was always a parade and every kid in town decorated his or her bicycle and many attached playing cards with clothes pins so that as the wheel turned the spokes would hit the cards making the bicycle sound somewhat like a motorcycle. There would be bands playing music and military and former military men and women marching. It was a beautiful day capped off with a dazzling night of fireworks and everyone was proud to be an American. We had just ended World War Two in victory and the nation rejoiced.
Then came the Korean War, called the Korean conflict by the politicians who knew we as a country didn’t want any more war. Not very long after that debacle which resolved absolutely nothing and which never actually formally ended things began to heat up in Vietnam. As that war progressed from bad to very bad resulting in a never ending stream of sometimes violent protests across our land and ultimately the death of more than 58,000 Americans and more than 3 million Vietnamese and a victory for our enemy North Vietnam a major shift in America had taken place.
Personally I actually volunteered to be a United States Marine and eventually I even volunteered to serve in Vietnam. I shall be forever proud of my service as a Marine, but much of what I witnessed in Vietnam deeply disgusted me. That said I still maintained great pride in my nation, but now that feeling has been deeply challenged.
Just the other night I heard a story on television news that made me instantly thoroughly enraged so much so that I began thinking of just where else other than America I might want to move to. he TV news report stated that about 1,500 children have recently been separated from their parents by ICE agents. The parents of these children were allegedly illegal immigrants and had to be deported, but the children, having been born in America were American citizens and therefore would remain here, but not with their parents, but rather in some lifeless refugee camp run by the Department of Human Services.
So utterly disturbing was this tidbit of news that I began looking a little deeper and was horrified to learn that this practice has been going on for several years resulting in more than 71,000 deportations of parents separated from their children. This is a pure disgrace and shall forever tarnish what was once a truly great nation. Every Congress person who does not immediately seek to end this horror deserves to be voted out of office regardless of party affiliation.
Oh but what are they to do you ask, we cannot just let everyone come into our country. I mean if you really want to know how bad an open door policy can be, just ask any of the 562 Indian Nations, Tribes and Pueblos how well it has worked for them. That said there really is a rational solution.
Any man or woman who seeks to live in America may apply for a residency permit which will be granted when the applicant can prove that he or she has gainful employment and no criminal history. The process should be made fast and simple so there would be no valid reason for avoiding the process. Once residency has been granted, and application for citizenship should be made available ten years after lawful entry upon demonstration that the applicant remains gainfully employed and free of any criminal actions. Done. And what of all who are already here illegally?
Simple. Once apprehended they would be sat down and walked through the lawful residency request process and their applications would be given top priority. They would be allowed to remain in our country with their children until their application was processed. Yes, they would need to have a periodic check in process which they would be required to maintain but which would not be unnecessarily onerous. I can’t with absolute certainty claim that everyone who goes through this process would be accepted because some do indeed take up criminal activity such as the notorious MS-13 gangsters, but whole lot of otherwise very decent people would be welcomed and their children would not have to face the horror that so many now face.
Just pause for a moment and think what it would have been like if you had been forcibly taken from your parents when you were but five years old and placed in a government detention center. How long would your tears have shed, how crushed would your heart be? Hey, President Trump, want to make America great again? Good than put an end to this atrocity.
Ron Irwin was born in Chicago, Illinois a long time ago. He served in the Marine Corps in Vietnam, became a trial lawyer, TV and radio host, CEO of a public company and once held an Emmy. He never won an Emmy he just held one. Ron has written and published twelve books. His most important book to date is “Live, Die, Live Again” in which Ron tells of his early life and his unexpected and very temporary death in 2012. That experience dramatically refocused his life and within the pages of that book Ron reveals how he achieved a much healthier life, ridding himself of Diabetes, Cancer and Heart Failure. Now Ron enjoys writing about many things including health topics, travel [he has circled the globe several times], adventure, culinary experiences and the world of performing art. Ron’s motto is “Live better, live longer and live stronger because it feels great and annoys others.” Contact the author.