Letter: Border control has widespread impact

Monday, May 29, 2006 | 6:57 a.m.

Is how we live our lives as Americans worth saving? This is a question we will answer by actions we take or direct our lawmakers to take, on the factors that place the American zeitgeist in danger. We face depredations by drug smugglers, stealthy jihadists and a flood of people who, unassimilated, would forever change the U.S. fabric.

Clear-thinking Americans ask, "Why has the federal government made the conscious decision to have Homeland Security relax its vigilance at the border?" It's true we need workers at all levels to effectively compete with the economic powerhouses of China and India, but at the expense of the American way?

With millions of people here illegally, we must solve the problems of security and economic vitality in a pragmatic, honorable way. Our legal system differentiates between those who consciously break a law and those who are the "innocents." Perhaps a two-tier approach should be used for those who willingly broke our laws, and those who are here but haven't broken them.

We must control the borders so that those wishing harm to the U.S. are not allowed to enter through a wide-open, unguarded door. Enthusiastically welcoming a measured number into the U.S. who will assimilate, who want to become Americans by enriching our culture with a passion for life and family values, is the right approach.

The wages of complacency is to lose what you have. Always be ready to honorably defend your liberties and freedoms.

Richard Patras, Henderson