Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/570022
GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIALBOARD How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@ redbluffdailynews.com Fax: 530-527-9251 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 545 Diamond Ave., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS As I wrote last week, The United States has proportionately more long term un- documented immigrants than before. Many may wonder why so many politicians sud- denly want to kick these immigrants out of our country. Thecynicalamongusmay think it has to do with stir- ring up the electorate as one candidate, Carli Fiorina, has said. Some candi- dates running for office are at a loss for ad- vocating some- thing posi- tive, so they rally their followers by creat- ing a proposed enemy or evil group to fight against; in this case politicians have created the an alleged enemy of "ille- gal immigrants" to rally their troops. Their hope is that the attention they have created will generate enough support to keep the candidates, them- selves, from having to have something creative or, even important, to say or propose. Often those candidates recall "the good old days." In this case, those politi- cians have come late to the plate, so to speak. We have al- lowed a majority of the 11 mil- lion unauthorized immigrants to stay in our country for at least 12 years, and suddenly proclaiming those immigrants need to be removed is harsh at best; depriving children born here of their Constitutional rights is radical; and immedi- ately deporting those who en- tered with them as children is even more draconian. Half of the undocumented individuals have been here for 12 years or more. Many have established a life for themselves by working hard and avoiding notice, fearing deportation. Many are con- tributing members to soci- ety, and now they are hearing that they should be kicked out of their home and take all of their children with them. It is estimated that chil- dren with at least one undoc- umented immigrant parent made up about 6.9 percent of the public school enrollment in the United States in 2012, down slightly from a peak of 7.2 percent in 2005. The vast majority of these children were born in the United States and, therefore, under current law are legal residents (about 80 percent.) They are natural born Citizens. There are 8 million un- documented immigrants in the labor force, this is about 5.1 percent of the labor force compared with their 3.5 per- cent of the population. The percentages vary from state to state, with states like Cal- ifornia having a higher per- centage. The question of whether they are displacing other potential employees or they are filling jobs no one else wants is subject to con- jecture, speculation, and fur- ther careful research. As you might guess, the largest concentrations are in the farming, fishing, and for- estry workforce where an es- timated 26 percent of employ- ees are undocumented. There is a lot of controversy about the crime rate of un- documented immigrants ver- sus the rest of us. More study is necessary in this area. Data collection is one issue in this debate, but the data is fairly clear the crime rate among the undocumented is lower than that among one signif- icant minority group of na- tive born Americans. For some all of this data is irrele- vant; they see the basic issue as whether or not the undocu- mented should be here or not. The reality is, however, they are here. If the 14th Amendment is not repealed and the new President goes ahead and de- ports undocumented immi- grants, who will take respon- sibility for the American Cit- izens left behind if their parents are suddenly up- rooted? That great iconoclast, Am- brose Bierce, once defined an alien (In the Devil's Diction- ary) as "an American sov- ereign in his probationary state." Wouldn't that be a bet- ter way to work with the 11 million who are here? The so called DREAM act would have been a more hu- mane and realistic way to take those children who came here with their parents and now take them out of the shadows and help them be- come citizens; because it did not pass the Congress after much rankling a over many attempts, it was replaced by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program initiated by the cur- rent administration. You probably know people who have followed the terms and conditions of federal DACA program and state DREAM Acts; these individuals are pursuing an education, they have obtained legal Social Security cards and driver's licenses and work permits, and they are striving to be- come active members of our society. These people are try- ing to pursue the American Dream, and they are not part of the pseudo-nightmare cre- ated by politicians who can- not think of something cre- ative to say. Our workforce is shrinking as we age. On a practical level we will need more people to fill the vacancies we create. Why would we want to re- move the motivated from that potential pool? Of course, then there is the logic of po- litical rhetoric. Last week I began with an H. L. Menken quote. Here is another one I learned from Joe Pelanconi who would use it when appropriate: "For ev- ery complex problem there is an answer that is clear, sim- ple, and wrong." JoeHarropisaretired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net. Joe Harrop The sound and the fury — part 2 Cartoonist's take Inresponsetocolumnists Editor: There are some of the col- umnists that post on your ed- itorial page and due to their exaggerated opinion of their intellect and their self-aggran- dizement have placed them- selves on a pedestal so high they have lost sight of the com- mon man and woman. The shrinking working class that is and has carried the bur- den of supporting this once great country, not only with the overwhelming tax burden placed on them by a handful of the establishment politicians in Washington D.C., but with their military service where many have sacrificed life and limb to protect their first amendment right to do so. Many of these common folk also go to work every day knowing they are supporting an inflated, overpaid govern- ment of elected officials, gov- ernment employees and wel- fare recipients that receive greater compensation than they will. On Sept. 1, Jason Stanford compared Donald Trump to be lower than the river of green slime in the movie "Ghost- busters II." On Sept. 4 Robert Minch could not conceal his dislike of the Donald. He also won- ders who could possibly de- clare their admiration for him let alone support him. The American people are tired of being lied to by the es- tablishment in Washington D.C. and that goes for Republi- cans as well as Democrats. The handful of career Republicans — including LaMalfa — prom- ised to put a stop to Obama's outrageous rampage of power if only they had a majority, was a lie. Now comes the Donald. A non-politician billionaire do- ing what career politicians don't do and that is use com- mon English not proper Eng- lish. In other words, he talks to the people. He is also do- ing the impossible and that is turning the establishment up- side-down with a double-digit lead over their chosen candi- date Jeb Bush. All the leading candidates on the Republican ticket are non-elected politicians with the exception of Ted Cruz, a first term senator from Texas, who is certainly not part of the establishment. So, Jason Stanford and Rob- ert Minch, your disdain for the Donald is welcomed by the established Republicans and your socially-elite friends but the common folk know BS when they smell it. You guys, just be careful you don't step in it. On Sept. 8 Dick Polman's column "Obama haters' heads detonate over 'DenaliGate.'" My question is this, when has Obama ever done anything that wasn't done for political or self-serving reasons? — Les Wolfe, Red Bluff Does LaMalfa really support the military? Editor: Over the years, the Military Officers' Association of Amer- ica has proven to be a reli- able source of information for tracking how well individual politicians support military-re- lated legislation. MOAA's an independent, non-profit and politically non- partisan organization, whose focus includes military person- nel matters, especially in re- gards to legislation affecting the military. The website at moaa.org in- cludes a "Take Action" data- base that provides current info on key bills and its co-spon- sors. MOAA doesn't track individ- ual legislator's voting records. Rather, their official position is "…we believe co-sponsorship records are more telling of an elected official's stance and po- sition." In fact, former U.S. Rep- resentative William Colmer of Mississippi summed up the value of gaining co-spon- sors, saying "The co-sponsor- ship of a bill adds prestige and strength to proposed legisla- tion. For there is strength in unity. The proposal is given status by numbers." Way back on June 28, 2014, I attended a meeting of the Shasta County Veterans Affil- iated Council. My congress- man, Doug LaMalfa, was at- tending at the request of SC- VAC leadership. I used the opportunity to ask LaMalfa to explain why he was co-sponsoring only 2 of 28 pieces of legislation affecting our military. MOAA had determined these to be key bills and was closely tracking their progres- sion through the legislative process. I provided Representative LaMalfa a copy of the 26 bills he was not co-sponsoring, re- questing his office provide ap- propriate rationale for his lack of support. Sadly, I'm still waiting for a reply. MOAA's list of key bills has changed over the past year. A check of their database on Aug. 28 revealed the following, somewhat disappointing, stats for Congressman LaMalfa: H.R. 1969 — Military and Veteran Caregiver Services Im- provement Act (No) H.R. 1100 — Military Spouse Job Continuity Act (Yes) H.R. 1356 — Women Veter- ans Access to Quality Care Act (No) H.R. 1607 — Ruth Moore Act (No) H.R. 1141 — GI Bill Fairness Act (No) H.R. 456 — Reducing Barri- ers for Veterans Education Act (Yes) H.R. 1594 — Military Surviv- ing Spouses Equity Act (No) H.R. 969 — Support the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act (No) H.R. 800 — Support the Ex- press Appeals Act (No) H.R. 1384 — Honor Amer- ica's Guard-Reserve Retirees Act (No) H.R. 218 — CHAMPVA Chil- dren's Protection Act (No) H.R. 333 — Disabled Veter- ans Tax Termination Act (No) H.R. 303 — Retired Pay Res- toration Act (No) H.R. 216 — Develop a Long- Term Veterans Strategy (No) Some, undoubtedly, will find Doug's support adequate. Oth- ers will not. From my own perspective, I believe he could do more — a whole lot more. Dare I say, is LaMalfa truly a veterans' advocate in action or in word only? You decide. — Pete Stiglich, Cottonwood Letters to the editor It is estimated that children with at least one undocumented immigrant parent made up about 6.9 percent of the public school enrollment in the United States in 2012, down slightly from a peak of 7.2 percent in 2005. The vast majority of these children were born in the United States and, therefore, under current law are legal residents (about 80 percent). Sounding off A look at what readers are saying in comments on our website and on social media. I hope the store finds a new location, too. I live nearby and am tired of the eyesore of scattered junk "donated" (actually dumped) over the weekend. Then it attracts tweeking scavengers who are then roaming around my block. I appreciate the good thing this organization does, but the store needs to be located away from residential areas. Ann Taylor-Minch: On news the Salvation Army is looking to relocate its headquarters I will be thinking of you during this solemn remembrance. Please Lord, keep our fami- lies and nation safe. Susun Dodge: On a preview of the Sept. 11 commemoration ceremony in Red Bluff Joe Harrop OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, September 12, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4