Dave Skocik of Dover is the president of the Delaware Veterans Coalition.
“Screwing the pooch” is a colloquial expression alluding to not taking care of those who defend you. Not feeding or abusing your watchdog comes to mind. The same principle applies to the fewer than 1% of our fellow citizens who protect us.
As a retired veteran, I am appalled that Delaware’s three federal elected officials did nothing during the 42 days of the federal shutdown to stand up for the people and their families who defend us, 25% of whom are on food stamps.
They sat quietly by while six federal employees threatened our military that they may be charged with war crimes “during a future administration.” No examples were provided, as our troops and their families went without pay. Nor were our representatives concerned about the stress on troops on remote tours and the families they left behind.
Most importantly, they remained silent as 15 million to 20 million people illegally crossed our borders, while opponents were called racists, Nazis, fascists, war criminals and other epithets. Some 18,000 have already been associated with terrorist organizations, human and drug traffickers, gangs, rapists, murderers and career criminals.
Worse is the hateful rhetoric of elected officials who support the wrong side, as our citizens become victims. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson are examples, as protesters shoot at police and ram cars of Border Patrol agents.
Veterans who serve in harm’s way and lost family and friends have long memories. My generation never forgave Jane Fonda for posing with communist gunners, while we were receiving body bags at Danang. She later admitted it was a mistake, but the former administration’s support of the invasion from 180 countries, while assuring us our lying eyes were wrong, was planned to secure future votes over our safety. Nor will our current generation of veterans forget those who support political ideology over the few willing to die for us.
Our U.S. senators and representatives work for us. They must clarify their positions on anyone who comes here illegally and is housed, fed, educated, medicated and provided financial support that our citizens don’t receive. While we can absorb a million people a year who bring their talents and resources, we cannot support 10 times that number, many with no skills who will expect overburdened taxpayers to care for their families.
We live in an increasingly violent world, and some believe it presages another 9/11 attack. We must return to the original framework of immigration, through real background checks of character, criminal history, the ability to sustain oneself and a willingness to blend into our culture versus enclaves that establish their own laws, anti-American values and the antisemitism that’s playing out here and across Europe.
Current statistics indicate that some 1.6 million noncitizens dependent on public support have voluntarily self-deported from the U.S. in the past year, with another 400,000-plus deported for criminal activity, with more to come.
Officials who support or condone illegal immigration in violation of our laws, Constitution and common sense should be challenged and held accountable by the victims of people who shouldn’t be here.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
