As all of you know who read my column on a regular basis, I have no great love for politicians and I don’t care what side of the road that they live on. I will not lump them altogether and say that they are all bad, for that would be wrong of me. I do have my likes and dislikes in all of the parties. At times, I have cringed at the words and face of Nancy Pelosi. At times I have wished that she would just step aside and go ahead and go into retirement — the sooner the better and I still feel that way.
With that said, I now have to come to her defense and all others who were, and have been, treated the way she was on Sept. 18. The way this lady was treated by those who are part of DACA was beyond sad. The disrespect that this lady was shown shows us the mentality of some of these immigrants who are illegally here. I don’t care if they have been here all of their lives, they are still illegals. Of all the people whom they chose to shout down, why did it have to be Nancy Pelosi? Do they not understand this woman is trying to help and not to hurt them. She was there for no one other than those caught up in this DACA controversy. The part that bothered me the most was the fact that I did not see Pelosi as I have seen her in the past.
In the past, I have always seen a strong-willed and somewhat sarcastic woman. That was not the case in this episode of her political life. What I saw was true fear in her eyes as to what was taking place. I saw a lady who was truly intimidated by what she was having to deal with. You could tell by her facial expressions that she had never dealt with this type of harassment.
It made me mad as hell for what she was going through. But it also showed Pelosi what the peaceful marchers have had to deal with when it comes down to Antifa and the way that they treat the conservatives. But in the case of Antifa, they use violence. Pelosi did not experience this. It also showed me that these people — and I do not say all of DACA — have no respect for our laws, nor our lawmakers. What I saw was true arrogance and the entitlement mentality of people who think they are deserving of better treatment than the natural-born citizens of America. In the past, I have had enough heart to want these people to be able to go on with their lives and have no fear of being deported to a country that they have never known, and, for the most part, that would be Mexico. Because of this outrageous behavior, I have second thoughts. At this time ,I am thinking, “Just who the hell do you think you are? When you disrespect our House minority leader, you have just disrespected the entire nation. You were brought here illegally, for the most part, to begin with — that was a crime against our nation and our people.”
What I am seeing here are people who are not grateful to a country that has not sent them home in mass deportations. It has happened in other countries. These who protest and do become violent should be the first to go, along with the criminal element that should go as soon as possible. We do not need, nor do we want, these type of people on our nation’s soil. What we do want are immigrants who have gone through the proper channels to achieve citizenship. Americans are a loving, caring people who do have compassion for our fellow man. Is it too much to ask of other nations and their people who want to come here to give us nothing more than respect for our people and our laws? That should not be hard to do. But it appears that this is asking too much of the illegal immigrants.
Kindness and understanding by the American citizens will only go so far. I beg of you do, not back Americans into a corner — for if you do, you will not like the outcome. We can and will show you our collective outrage. But it, by no means, has to go to the point of our citizens showing you the back door and kicking you out with whatever means it takes. There are far too many people of this world who think America owes you something. We owe no nation anything other than respect and loyalty. In return, America must receive the same understanding, respect and loyalty. What is so hard to understand with those written words?
Understanding of other human beings and their needs and wants is necessary to a peaceful way of life. At this time I do not see that taking place in the hearts and minds of those who want to reside here in America. All I see are people with the mentality of “Give to me, give to me, give me some more, you have not given me enough.” What I have seen with the DACA protesters is the fact that they will not be happy until they are given citizenship.
If we go back to Pelosi, we see that during the time that she was in California, she was doing noting but helping. Pelosi had been urging the passage of the Dream Act to stop deportation of the Dreamers, as they are called. She was also there to promote the passage of laws to create a path to citizenship. It is estimated that there are up to 12 million undocumented illegal immigrants living in America. I personally think there are many more than that. It is also estimated that there are 800,000 of the Dreamers.
Their dreams might, in the long run, turn out to be nightmares for the working poor of America. The illegals have driven down the wages for Americans. For that I blame those who will hire the illegals with no documents. They only think of one thing and that is what they are saving themselves. The sad part of that last sentence is the fact that what the employer does not pay them is made up by what the government gives them — that being compensation that is paid for with the tax dollars of the American worker. So you see, the American worker gets kicked in the gut twice, not only by the illegal working here but by our own government.
It has been stated that the Dreamers are afraid of being deported and some of them might be, but not in all of the cases. During a recent press conference in San Francisco, Pelosi was shouted down again. During this conference, she was ridiculed and criticized for working with Trump on immigration. This time, she was told by dozens of protesters: “We are immigrant youth, undocumented and unafraid.” These people took over that event and Pelosi was escorted out. Do these people not understand that both parties have to work with the president to achieve any goal, regardless of what it is? There is no one who can go it alone and fix this problem over night. It takes time and understanding of what does have to take place.
Those who chose to make threats and riot, as some of them have done, are simply hurting their cause. The American workers did not ask you to come here. For the most part, Americans do not have a problem with you being here. All the American citizens want out of you is to go through the proper channels and abide by the laws of the land. We know that we are a land of immigrants. Just come here legally and you will be welcomed with open arms.
Robert Lee is a concerned citizen and U.S. Marine veteran who owns and operates Rockingham Guns and Ammo. His column appears here each Saturday.