By Nancy Thorner & Bonnie O'Neil -
Our nation’s founders credited God for the miraculous victory that provided them independence from England and rightfully so. They witnessed miracles as their rag-tag army defeated English troops and German mercenaries with equipment and troops far superior to theirs. Thus, they inherited a land rich in natural resources, with two great oceans offering protection to both their Eastern and Western borders and rich farmland that spread across the land from coast to coast.
The leaders of both the war effort and the establishment of our new country considered their victory an amazing gift and credited God. They also believed the establishment of our Constitution and Bill of Rights to be inspired by God.
Alexander Hamilton stated: "For my own part, I sincerely esteem it [the Constitution] a system which without the finger of God, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests."- Alexander Hamilton (1787 after the Constitutional Convention)
This Constitution was based on individual freedom and liberty, and it acknowledged God as the source of our strength. The amazingly wise decisions of these men allowed our Republic to eventually thrive and become the envy of the World.
Troubling Signs
Unfortunately, there are signs some Americans have become increasingly complacent. Perhaps thinking our country so powerful we cannot fail, many have begun to ignore or have never known the reasons for our established laws, as some schools are failing to teach American history. Gun rights and protecting our borders are two under attack today. There are historically sound reasons for these laws and we ignore them to our nation's detriment. Consider President Ronald Reagan's wise warning:
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass freedom on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States when men were free.”
Many still fondly remember our public schools began each day with a prayer, confirming this nation’s long-held view of the necessity to honor God. A prayer was also offered at the beginning of official city meetings and Court sessions. The 10 commandments were prominently hung in official business offices, as well as on our school walls. These time-honored practices reminded us of our humanity, but they have disappeared and with them so much of what once made America great and allowed us to prosper. American patriots should be asking why this happened, who allowed it, and how we can restore what has been lost.
Americans had always trusted their elected officials to maintain our system of laws and traditions set forth by our Founding Fathers. We did not realize there were those among us who were secretly planning changes to our long-held laws and traditions, such as prayers in public places and protecting every human life.
Ignoring Long-Established National Immigration laws
For the past few decades, specific elected officials, with the help of a willing media, have ignored long-established laws, perhaps the most obvious is a disregard for our national immigration laws. This has caused an unprecedented massive migration, unfortunately much of which has been illegal and thus many among us today have not gone through the necessary vetting process. Thus, illegal immigrants have brought in diseases and illegal drugs. They caused our classrooms to be over-crowded, and due to the language barrier immigrant children need extra time and attention from teachers, thus robbing our own children of important class time.
Those here illegally commit a disproportionate amount of crimes, causing a serious strain on law enforcement, jails, prisons, and finances. How much is this costing American citizens? At the federal, state, and local levels, taxpayers shell out approximately $134.9 billion a year to cover the costs incurred by the presence of more than 12.5 million undocumented aliens, and their 4.2 million children. That amounts to a tax burden of approximately $8,075 per illegal alien family member and a mind-boggling total of approximately $11billion.
Elected officials not only ignore this harm to our families and nation, but some state officials openly protect those here illegally. California state officials defied Federal laws by designating California to be a “Sanctuary State". Other states, such as Illinois, are considering this ugly option. Chicago proudly touts its status as a Sanctuary City.
This last extreme by California state officials has many California citizens concerned and fighting back, angrily saying “enough is enough.” Orange County Supervisor Shawn Nelson told Fox News that sanctuary status is unconstitutional and that the supervisors do not want to be affiliated with those laws. Nelson further explained: “California has decided to poke the President and his administration in the eye, and I’d rather that they just not involve us."
Action by Trump Administration
The Trump administration is also taking action to protect our border, by deploying approximately 500 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen said in a joint statement: "Tonight, (4/7) National Guard troops are deploying to support border security missions along the U.S. southwest border." National Guard Chief Gen. Joseph Lengyel said 500 troops — along with vehicles, helicopters, and equipment — are en route to the border. They are being sent by Republican Governors Greg Abbott of Texas and Doug Ducey of Arizona.
President Trump likewise signed a memorandum on Friday, April 7 ordering the end of a policy, known as “catch and release,” in which illegal immigrants are released from detention while awaiting a court hearing on their status.
About President Trump’s border wall, according to a report from the Center for Immigration Studies, the better the wall does at stopping people, the more money it saves taxpayers. illegal immigrants are a net drain of nearly $75,000 per person over their lifetimes. Steven A. Camarota, a demographer and the report’s author, wrote: “If a wall stopped half of those expected to successfully enter illegally without going through a port of entry at the southern border over the next 10 years, it would save taxpayers nearly $64 billion — several times the wall’s cost." And what about the over the border drug trafficking that has caused an opioid epidemic resulting in thousands of deaths among our young, as well as human sex trafficking?
Our President is keeping his campaign pledge to secure our borders and for that we applaud him. It is time to return to the wisdom of our forefathers and abide by the laws they gave us. Thankfully, we are seeing some of our elected officials realizing the importance of adhering to our Constitution and Federal laws. It is the job of citizens to support those who are committed to upholding our laws and making our citizens their top priority.
