Dear editor:
We in the United States are in jeopardy of facing a restriction of a great asset this country has enjoyed since the founding of the nation and even before, to wit, the loss of talent, inventiveness, enterprise, creativity and labor sources.
The list is endless. The possible loss of these valuable assets is caused by the president's new immigration proposal, sponsored by Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and David Perdue of Georgia. This proposal, if passed into law, would cut in half the number of legal immigrants that could enter the U.S. over the next 10 years. The proposal would scrap the present lottery-based system and move to a point system. Each person wishing to obtain a "green card" would, among other things, be expected to speak English. Would this be the same "Americanized" English spoken by the government official interviewing the applicant? Would he or she be given a written English test, too? Some applicants might be turned away by a prejudiced official who didn't like the accent or inflection of an applicant's language. This method was used for a century and more to keep minorities from voting and it could be used to keep so-called "unfit immigrants" from entering the U.S.
These "unfit immigrants," it seems, would be the "tired, poor, huddled masses, homeless, wretched refuse and tempest-tossed" that have in the past been invited in, not kept out. Is the flame in the Statue of Liberty's torch flickering out?
Our current chief executive, who, probably inadvertently, revealed that he doesn't even know if he is a civilian or in the military since he was sworn in, says that if an immigrant is allowed to enter the country under his new plan he or she would not be allowed to immediately collect welfare benefits. The current president proves again he doesn't know anything about our government's legal requirements. Since President Clinton's administration, immigrants cannot immediately file for welfare benefits. They must wait for five years to file for benefits from the U.S. government. All the current president would have to have done about policy was to ask his attorney to give him a report on statutes governing immigration, but it is well known that the president doesn't like to read or can't read anything longer than a few words at a time, so there is no way he would read a report.
The president has spoken enthusiastically about legal immigration, contrary to the language in his newly minted immigration proposal. His attitude often changes with his audience or even with the time of day. Early in the morning is his "tweeting time."
Let Sen. Cotton know that this immigration policy he is sponsoring does not reflect the values of patriotic Americans.
John S. Polk
Hot Springs
Editorial on 08/09/2017