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Immigration Debate: Let me Get this Straight, Senator...
    INDIANAPOLIS /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a
statement by Paul A. Morin, national commander of the American Legion:
    Let me get this straight. Senator, you want to legalize people who
enter our sovereign nation illegally, ignore our immigration laws, steal
our identities and lie to employers. People who draw from our public
services, get free health care and education, all paid for by you and me
and other benevolent American taxpayers. And, if I'm reading this right,
many if not most, of our illegal visitors fail to pay taxes while sending
huge sums of money back to their homeland.
    Excuse me, am I the only one that sees something wrong with this? Isn't
it apparent that this deal is one-sided, and not in the best interest of
the United States?
    As I travel across this nation as the spokesman for The American
Legion, people tell me they are frustrated, upset and concerned that little
or no attention in this national debate has been given to national security
implications. And if I really want to set them off, all I have to do is
mention that more Americans are being killed in the United States by
illegal aliens than are dying on the battlefields in Iraq.
    Sometimes they remind me that 30 percent of our federal prison
population is illegal aliens and more than half of them have committed
multiple crimes. The sad reality is that most of them will be released on
our streets to commit more crimes; crimes against we, the American
taxpayers, who are unknowingly funding their very existence in this
country.

    Yes, I know. I've heard the arguments. They are just hardworking men
and women who come to this country to better themselves and to feed their
families. But at what cost to the United States? Can we say with complete
assurance that this is all they want? I, and a lot of other Americans,
don't think so.
    Millions of illegal undocumented people in this country are a security
time bomb and the clock is ticking. It is imperative that we, as a nation,
put our national security up front, priority number one, when considering
an immigration reform plan. The bill being considered in the U.S. Senate
does not do that and leaves this nation vulnerable to acts of terrorism.
    Local and state law enforcement agencies that do not report violations
of immigration laws to federal authorities are gambling with our safety.
Similarly, cities and municipalities with sanctuary policies for illegals
are aiding and abetting. They are putting our nation at risk and recent
history has proved that.
    Mohammed Atta, one of the 9-11 terrorists, was stopped several times
for traffic violations but his immigration status was not checked. If it
had been, almost 3,000 people who perished that day would be alive today.
    Earlier this month, Dritan Duka, Dljivir Duka and Shain Duka were
arrested and charged with plotting to attack military bases and slaughter
American service men and women. They might have been successful if it were
not for an observant store clerk who reported their suspicious behavior.
    Authorities had many opportunities to end this conspiracy but they did
not check their immigration status. The Dukas were stopped 75 times for
traffic citations and other violations between December 1997 and May 2006.
Since they lived in a "sanctuary city," law enforcement officials missed 75
opportunities to uncover the conspiracy and protect American lives.
Instead, it was the observant store clerk who saved the day.
    The American people have reason to be upset with our government because
it is not doing its job. It's time to put Americans first by dealing with
illegals as uninvited visitors to our sovereign soil. Illegal aliens are
trespassing and they are threats to our security. Let us pray that our
elected representatives will come to that realization, sooner and not
later.
    Paul A. Morin is national commander of the 2.7 million-member American
Legion, the nation's largest veterans organization. The American Legion
Illegal Immigration strategy paper can be viewed at
http://www.legion.org/documents/pdf/immigrationpaper_0507.pdf
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