Letter: Failure to secure nation is real felony

Saturday, May 6, 2006 | 7:44 a.m.

I have not yet seen any discussion of the logic behind the proposal to make illegal immigrants felons. What purpose do the proponents of this ill-conceived notion hope to serve?

As I see it, this is a reactionary, idiotic idea intended to appease the "ignorant masses of the constituency" - the American people. The only things this could possibly accomplish would be the saddling of our already overburdened states with responsibility for enforcing the law and the costs of adjudicating individual cases. In the absence of a federal organization vigorously enforcing a clearly defined policy, it can't be otherwise.

But our government's cavalier attitude toward enforcement of our borders has made us not only a laughingstock in the eyes of the world, but it has also left us dangerously vulnerable to the incursions of terrorists and other subversives whose ultimate goal is nothing short of the total destruction of our great nation and her people.

In the post-9/11 world we are forced to live in, the desires of those people who oppose our right to regulate immigration and enforce our sovereign borders must, of necessity, be given no more than secondary consideration.

The failure of our government to take whatever steps are necessary to ensure the security of our nation, regardless of any pressure to the contrary, is nothing short of criminal. This is the real felony.

John L. Shank, North Las Vegas