2016-07-27
June 6, 2002

It's time to get serious about protecting our nation against terrorism. The time for politically-correct, feel-good "solutions" is past. We must accelerate our efforts to get our house in order and ensure that Americans are properly protected.

This may mean that some people will be offended. So be it.

I am a 68-year-old white Baptist male. If that were the classification of suspected terrorists in our country, I would certainly expect that law enforcement officials who are enlisted to defend our nation would be purposely scrutinizing me. This might cause me some inconvenience, maybe even a bit of occasional embarrassment, but I would submit to such a necessary encumbrance for the greater good of our nation.

Free people will accept sacrifices to preserve the freedom we love. And the good of our nation - the people of this nation - is the fundamental issue here.

The Justice Department announced this week that it expects to annually identify roughly 100,000 foreign visitors as potential threats and will require them to provide fingerprints, photographs and details about their plans here. This is the very least we can expect from visitors.

The plan would require certain visitors to our nation - including those already in the country - from predominantly Muslim nations to provide fingerprints to authorities upon their arrival and would obligate them to register with the Immigration and Naturalization Service after 30 days in the country.

The problem is that our government's efforts to provide adequate safety for our people are being challenged from within. The American Civil Liberties Union, as you might expect, called the Justice Department's plan to track immigrants "discriminatory."

But this measure is far from discriminatory - it is absolutely necessary for the security of our nation.

In addition, the Washington Times quoted an unnamed Justice Department official who said, "We know who's trying to kill us and we know that they're here. And yet we have to be extra sensitive as to not offend anyone."

What a travesty!

I agree with radio host Neal Boortz who said this week, "We expect our government to take all reasonable and legal actions that it can to protect us from all of those 'peaceful' Islamic murderers who are so thirsty for American blood."

Amen, brother!

My question is, why are we allowing anyone even remotely linked to terrorists into our nation, to begin with? I believe it is time to simply close our immigration doors - at least temporarily - in order to establish functional protections for our own citizens. I will surely be accused of being a "xenophobe" for such a recommendation, but I simply desire our government to safeguard the good people of this nation. That's government's role.

In fact, I truly believe government officials should consider an aggressive campaign to rid our nation of the estimated 11 million illegal aliens now residing within our borders. These people are here illegally. They should be sought out and returned to their home countries. They could then apply for citizenship the way legal immigrants have done throughout our nation's history.

As a homeowner, I don't open my doors and allow strangers to camp out in my living room. To do so would be a threat to my family's safety. On a larger scale, our nation needs to weed out those who are not here legally.

Sept. 11 will forever serve as a reminder that America is a vulnerable and hated nation. Our government must do everything necessary to ensure that we keep out those who wish to duplicate the horrors of that fateful day. Our freedom and our security require absolute diligence to prevent another day of sheer horror.

If we play all the politically-correct games the left adores, we will ensure only that nobody in our nation is "offended." We will, however, ensure nothing in terms of defending American citizens. One September 11 is enough for me to see that the rules have changed and we'd better increase our measures to anticipate and prohibit a recurrence.

Ensuring that our people are safe may mean building a wall from San Diego to Brownsville. If it does, then let's get busy with the construction. It may mean halting all visitor visas from nations linked to terrorists. It most certainly means we should be arming the pilots of all commercial airlines. Whatever it requires, we should be willing to take that step.

I'm an obvious and admitted hard-liner on this issue. But I believe our nation's very existence is at stake. And when the stakes are that high, we'd better be serious about protecting our own.

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