Opinion
g e ptember 3,1993
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PRO ^ CON
Should America grant
jtizenship t o U.S.-born
Uldren of illegal aliens?
rcxP e but -
L i^v&eiook
^ le short
1 incident , rvof
■erica
d investi- .^g
from oth- . ierin
. iiichitbe-
lived in. jt ts
a private er(0
?r AssoCi- ;jrate
If!wo opposing positions and
1 on thSjpf^g^jj. anc j stance
ocial seilpijtjQjH j n United States
j old be entitled to and subject
ffiliatod iiebenefits and responsibilities
D f 11 ^s na ti° n regardless of who
in admit- are/ where they came
there. Ur how they got here.
er ' . | ienerally, Americans tend to
Hospital/ snieo j: fpQgj. compassion-
ited to US j(j zens 0 f fhe world when it
ne of the helping foreigners, but
ain froUJ ; eneros ify seems to dry up
jrvices at ^gfopics 0 f money and a
1 hng population arise.
We don't have enough room
j liny more of these people,"
[msto be the favorite excuse in
Jahington, but it really doesn't
be that way.
it does this country's pop-
ion consist of anyway? This
sblicisnot and never was an
tsocial club of white Euro-
aswho traversed the Atlantic
Jbought this place fair and
«. Most of the original set-
(illegal aliens) were outlaws
religious outcasts willing to
their lives for a new begin-
J The citizens at the time had
hoice but to accept the new
msor fight them. We wiped
mout, stole their land and
fiv open the doors to the rest
[lie world.
fen the rest of the world
wed up, their American-born
iesbecame citizens. So how
we deny citizenship to any
bom on this soil? The fetus-
illegal aliens are unaware of
parents' legal status — not
lention immigration quotas.
' are we "full" of people or
'ething? If Japan is "full," we
: Jinly aren't. Our nation can
many times the current pop-
ion, just not with the current
‘low of tax revenue.
>ow, I'm all for everyone
' ighis or her own weight in
as part of national responsi-
,but taxes are paid by citi-
Fbot illegal aliens. Pending
Nation or not, illegal aliens
md work in this country
'out paying taxes, and in
lycases, they receive govern-
■1 services as well,
hide from erecting a 30-foot,
'led Berlin-esque wall along
Entire Mexican border, there's
ooway to effectively thwart
Wd-be immigrants. So, let's
pend countless millions of
•rs in futile bureaucratic pa-
muffling to determine whose
is legal and whose is not.
lould just continue to grant
■nship to all babies born on
Jrican soil, regardless of the
tots'legal status, and allow
Uowork and pay taxes,
lot only that, but their parents
ild be granted green cards at
'fry least. Essentially, our
itry's immigration "prob-
' stem from misappropria-
ofgovernment services and
furthering negative atti-
Stowards illegal aliens and
children.
^Stanford is a graduate philoso
phy major
ROBERT
VASQUEZ
Columnist
«
t!
T he
Unit
ed
States of
fers a host
of opportu
nities to a
very select
group of
people who
take the ini
tiative.
These peo
ple are enti
tled to citi
zenship
and the ac
company
ing benefits if they accomplish two
minor tasks: Enter the country ille
gally and bear a child.
"Yes," the United States seems
to say, "YOU TOO can break our
laws and undermine our legal sys
tem, and we will reward YOU and
YOUR CHILDREN with these
wonderful cash and prizes!!! Pat,
why don't you tell them what
these nice folks can expect when
they get here!"
Millions of illegal immigrants
flood into the United States each
year unconcerned that they are
breaking the law. It is not laws
which fill their minds as they
dodge the men enforcing the laws.
Instead, they are thinking of the
opportunities awaiting them here.
By now they know there are no
fabled streets of gold, but they do
know all too well that once they ar
rive on U.S. soil, the government is
hard pressed to do anything about
it. The laws which dictate the de
portation procedures of illegal im
migrants often reward the immi
grants for their illegal efforts and
simply punish the United States.
It seems ironic that a nation
populated primarily by immi
grants and their descendants is
now feeling the sting of immigra
tion, but the illegal immigration
undermines the nation's ability to
sustain the standard of living
which first drew immigrants.
And now the nation is retaliat
ing. One California legislator is
working to change the current
laws which allow — indeed en
courage and reward — immigrants
who ignore the laws of the very
land they seek to inhabit.
What's wrong with allowing
these people to seek a better future
for their children? Who can it
hurt? Well, while breaking the law
appears to benefit the children
bom to the illegal immigrants, mil
lions of U.S. citizens and those who
chose to enter this nation legally
are finding the price of these
crimes painfully expensive.
The state of California is one of
the hardest hit by the wave of ille
gal immigrants flooding the na
tion. One magazine reported that
last year alone more than 100,000
illegal aliens moved into Califor
nia. They and their American-bom
children accounted for up to 90
percent of California's population
explosion last year.
How is the state to provide for
the hundreds of thousands of ille
gal aliens and their children? The
governor's office says that the im
migrant population cost the state
$5 million more than it paid in tax
es. That translates to lower income
and higher expenses for California.
Those immigrants who seek the
American dream, faded and weary
as it may be, should be rewarded
and encouraged to do so. There
are procedures set up to aid them
in their plight. But the people who
seek to circumvent those laws and
undermine the system which was
set up to help them should be
treated accordingly. And by no
means should they be rewarded.
Robert Vasquez is a senior journalism
major
The Battalion
Page 15
Span: bars, water and funeral homes
Students learn more than language with Study Abroad
I 've just had all four
of my wisdom teeth
removed. Being un
able to leave the house
due to the effects of
some semi-hallucino
genic pain killer or
even entertain myself
by eating solid foods.
I've decided to reflect
upon my summer
study abroad experi
ence in Spain and fi
nally write the column
The Battalion request
ed some time ago.
Originally, I was
going to write some
didactic article about how America really is
THE superpower beyond simple economic
and nuclear terms and that we really should
worry more about China becoming our next
big competitor. Then I changed my mind
and decided it might be more interesting to
talk about what I learned in Spain besides
Spanish.
Primarily, and most importantly, it came
to my attention that one cannot stay out all
night a couple of school nights a week, not be
prepared for class and still make an A.
Needless to say, when the reality check came,
I was sorely disappointed.
The other stuff I learned was more ran
dom. For instance: the Cheetos in Spain are
really nasty. They taste like they were made
with moldy toe cheese. Also, I'll bet you
thought picante sauce was a Spanish thing.
Think again! The only restaurant that had
ever heard of Mexican food charged us $2.75
for their idea of "nachos": six tortilla chips
covered in ketchup.
Everybody smokes, eats ice cream and
they take their dogs everywhere — including
restaurants. Cars in Europe are smaller than
Mazda Miatas, but they somehow seat four
and get an average of 45 miles to the gallon.
We got to see all our favorite TV shows,
but dubbed in Spanish of course. I got a big
kick out of watching "The Fresh Prince of
Bel-Air" and listening to him rap in Spanish
while the other characters referred to him as
"Weel"!
Salamanca, the town we
stayed in, is about the size of
the Bryan-College Station
metroplex and by some esti
mates has about 3000 bars. In
fact, Spain has more bars than
the rest of Europe combined.
Every meal we had included hard white
bread as an appetizer — except breakfast, for
which hard white bread was the meal. The
prices at Pizza Hut, Burger King, and Mc
Donalds were inflated — Happy Meals are
$3.60 in Madrid — but the cool thing is you
can get a beer instead of a coke.
Speaking of beer, the drinking age is 16,
but the general rule is: if you can get your
chin — or more importantly your money —
over the bar, you can buy. I saw many a kid
drinking who looked about 12-years-old.
Salamanca, the town we stayed in, is
about the size of the Bryan-CoUege Station
metroplex and by some estimates has about
3000 bars and clubs. In fact, Spain has more
bars than the rest of Europe combined. Our
? rofs would hand out free drink passes on
hursdays at school. And the vending ma
chine at school — like virtually every vend
ing machine I saw — had beer in it.
Often, it was cheaper to buy alcohol than
water. Yes, you are charged for water in Eu
rope — a hard lesson in traveling. The neat
thing was that we could drink Evian and 1 Yt-
rier constantly without appearing preten
tious. The most expensive glass of water I
saw was the one my friend bought in the
Plaza Mayor in Salamanca for $2.50.
By the way — don't try to pay a tab with
your American Express card. Practically no
one in Europe accepts it, except the tourist
shops. Visa really is everywhere you want to
be.
On a more morbid note, I learned some
thing about funerals, having lived across the
street from a funeral home — which was cat
ty-comer to three bars. Spanish funerals have
a wake the night before at which the friends
and relatives of the deceased stay up all
night drinking and partying with the body.
My housemother told me that several ex
change students confused the frequent wakes
for a club and tried to mingle. With all the
night life in Salamanca, that's not surprising.
It's quite a town.
Lynn Booher is a sophomore English and psychol
ogy major
GUEST
COLUMN
LYNN
BOOHER
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Fays
CIA documents reveal
truth behind Cold War
The New York Times reported on Sunday,
Aug. 29, that the CIA is preparing to open its
files and to provide information about its
covert activities during the Cold War period.
This information should be of special interest
to the A&M community, since Texas A&M
enthusiastically supported the Cold War and
provided military personnel to help armed
struggles brought about.
The article cites a memorandum from
1954 which makes the CIA responsible for
creating an atmosphere of fear and uncer
tainty here in this country in order to win ap
proval for the policy of confrontation with
the Soviet Union.
It spread fear of a Soviet Union which, as
we know now, was groundless. The CIA
and its political allies here in the U.S. were
also responsible for virulent anti-commu
nism, the kind of anti-communism represent
ed by the likes of Barry Goldwater, who saw
a communist in anyone who disagreed with
government explanations of the "threat"
from the Soviet Union.
The notion that the Soviet Union was a
threat to U.S. security was groundless, since
the Soviet Union barely survived World War
II in tact. As everyone also knows, it col
lapsed in our own time, due to the heavy
burden of military spending imposed by the
arms race with the United States.
We must not forget that the U.S. had as its
main ally during the Cold War period the
rump state of West Germany. This was the
surviving part of a country which had invad
ed the Soviet Union in 1941 and whose
armies were responsible for murdering and
starving at least 20 million Soviet citizens.
The Germany which the U.S. re-armed in
1954 was a country whose leaders, apart
from the socialists, were either former Nazis
or had had close ties to the Nazi party. A
good example is Kurt Georg Kiesinger, a con
servative politician who became Chancellor
of West Germany in 1966. He had been a
Nazi party member and had worked in the
propaganda department of the party.
These men and others like them were the
leaders of the country which the United
States turned against the Soviet Union.
The Times report also details how the CIA
overthrew the democratic government of
Guatemala in 1954, though the government
had not sought Soviet aid, and was not in
any way a threat to U.S. security. It had,
however, confiscated land belonging to the
United Fruit Company.
The CIA then installed a regime in
Guatemala which is unsurpassed in brutali
ty. It has ruled the native population by ter
ror for the last 40 years. This terror is graphi
cally described by Susanne Jonas in The Bat
tle for Guatemala (1991). She writes about a
recent attack by the Guatemalan army on a
village of natives:
"At about 1:00pm, the soldiers began to
fire at the women inside the small church.
The majority did not die there, but were sep
arated from their children, taken to their
homes in groups, and killed, the majority
with machetes ....
Then they returned to kill the children,
whom they had left crying and screaming by
themselves, without their mothers .... The
soldiers cut open the children's stomachs
with knives or they grabbed the children's
little legs and smashed their heads with
heavy sticks" (p. 145).
The report in the Times merely confirms
what anyone who has read about U.S. policy
during the Cold War period already knows.
It was no secret that the government created
an atmosphere of psychological terror during
the 50s and that it was the CIA which had in
vented the Red menance.
This was re-invented as the "evil empire"
by Ronald Reagan and his friends like Phil
Gramm. Nor was it a secret the the United
States collaborated with ex-Nazis to build up
West Germany. Nor was it a secret that the
United States had overthrown the govern
ment in Guatemala, and that it was the CIA
which trained and even commanded the
death squads which were responsible for
murdering the local population of indige
nous peoples.
These reports are important because they
confirm what critics, let's say "left" or "liber
al" critics, of U.S. foreign policy had said all
along: namely, that the Cold War was mostly
a hoax, and the aim of U.S. foreign policy
was not to spread democracy, but to protect
U.S. business interests by any means avail
able, including murdering children.
The Cold WAr is over. A&M was at the
forefront of fighting the Cold War, and it was
at the forefront of spreading Cold War ideol
ogy. It supported cold warriors such as
Ronald Reagan, and it founded an institute
(the Mosher Institute for Defense Studies) to
keep the Cold War going after it was almost
over.
I hope that A&M can take a new turn, and
that the Mosher Institute can be replaced by
an institute for peace studies. The aim of the
institute would be to prepare Aggies for the
cause of peace: to help demobilize the mili
tary; and it should also prepare Aggies to
struggle for the cause of justice, to see in the
terror regimes of Latin America the real
threat to American ideals.
Michael Kraft,PhD
Bryan