Ellis Island
By John F. Di Leo -
Reflections on the cross-section of crime, war, and public policy...
Loudly, clearly, proudly, the Obama administration has declared its solidarity with the immigrant wave from the middle east.
Throughout Barack Obama’s two terms – while the United States were at war, trying to stabilize Iraq and Afghanistan, even while he himself started a war against Libya and approved military actions in other countries in the region – the Obama administration has continuously facilitated the immigration of “refugees” from that dangerous, alien territory.
We have watched the waves lap up onto our shores, depositing middle easterners in ever greater numbers – just a few by ship as in the old days… more by foot or wheel, over the Mexican or Canadian borders… and most by plane, either directly or indirectly.
The United States have had waves of immigrants before, of course: English, then Scots, Welsh and Dutch… Germans… Irish… Chinese… Italians…Pols and Russians and Mexicans… Any group of people naturally includes good people and bad, ambitious and lazy, honest and dishonest, in varying proportions. But something is different about this one: Never before has the United States accepted immigrants in quantity from a country or region with which we were at war at the time. This fact might change the expected distribution of desirable and otherwise among its migrants, mightn’t it?
For 3200 years, all governments have remembered the ancient experience of the City of Troy, and have wisely closed their doors to their enemies’ population in wartime, just to be safe. But the Obama administration thinks itself “above” the lessons of history.
