Subject: FW: Letter to the Editor
>
> NOT printed in the Orange County Paper...................
>
>
> Newspapers simply won't publish letters to the editor which they
> either deem politically incorrect (read below) or which does not agree
> with the philosophy they're pushing on the public. This woman wrote a
> great letter to the editor that should have been published; but, with
> your help it will get published via cyberspace!
>
> New Immigrants
> From: "David LaBonte"
>
> My wife, Rosemary, wrote a wonderful letter to the editor of the OC
> Register which, of course, was not printed. So, I decided to "print"
> it myself by sending it out on the Internet.
> Pass it along if you feel so inclined.
> Dave LaBonte (signed)
>
>
> Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the Orange
> County Register:
>
> Dear Editor:
>
> So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is
> made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should tear
> down the Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren't
> being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and
> other ports of entry.< /I>
>
> Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like
> Mr. Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind
> of immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all
> areas of Europe to come to the United States , people had to get off a
> ship and stand in a long line in New York and be documented. Some
> would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They
> made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in good
> and bad times. They made learning English a primary rule in their new
> American households and some even changed their names to blend in with
> their new home.
>
> They had waved good bye to their birth pla ce to give their children a
> new life and did everything in their power to help their children
> assimilate into one culture.
>
> Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor laws
> to protect them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they
> had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity. Most of
> their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father
> fought along side men whose parents had come straight over from
> Germany , Italy , France and Japan . None of these 1st generation
> Americans ever gave any thought about what country their parents had
> come from. They were Americans fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the
> Emperor of Japan . They were defending the United States of America as
> one people. When we liberated France , no one in those villages were
> looking for the French-American or the German American or the Irish
> American. The people of France saw only Americans. And we carried one
> flag that represented one country. Not one of those immigrant sons
> would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving
> it to represent who they were. It would have been a disgrace to their
> parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly
> knew what it me ant to be an American. They stirred the melting pot
> into one red, white and blue bowl
>
> And here we are in 2007 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the
> same rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by playing
> with a different set of rules, one that includes the entitlement card
> and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry,
> that's not what being an American is all about. I believe that the
> immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900's deserve
> better than that for all the toil, hard work and sacrifice in raising
> future generations to create a land that has become a beacon for those
> legally searching for a better life I think they would be appalled
> that they are being used as an example by those waving foreign country
> flags.< ?/color>
>
> And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of Liberty , it
> happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the
> immigration bill. I wouldn't start talking about dismantling the
> United States just yet.
> (signed) Rosemary LaBonte
>
> P. S. Pass this on to everyone you know!!!
>
> KEEP THIS LETTER MOVING!!
> I hope this letter gets read by millions of people all across the
> nation!!