Do not change the constitution for anti-immigration

From

• Wichita Peace and Freedom Party Examiner

 

Anti-immigration laws are not new. This country has had anti-immigration sentiments since the late 1800s when Germans, Irish and Eastern Europeans came from across the sea and tried to live and work in New York.

During the US Civil War many immigrants rioted rather than being forced into the Union Army to fight for people they didn’t know. The Know Nothing Party is one of the best known historical organizations against letting immigrants in the US. There was also the signs, “Irish need not apply” for work.

The Arizona bill that requires police to check the legal residence of persons stopped is just the latest of two hundred years of trying to keep foreigners out. I can understand this in part, because we have a shortage of jobs, space and Resources. But some laws have been on the books for the entire history of the country and changing them now is just not the thing to do. One such law is citizenship since birth. With the exception of Native American Indians, this law has never been challenged. If born in the US you are a citizen.

To change that would be as racist as reversing the act which granted citizenship to Native Americans. We may have our problems, but this is no time to push back basic American concepts because we are in some difficult times.