It’s time to take responsibility America

With the race to the White House in full swing, our country is once again immersed in a fury of emotional political debate surrounding the issue of illegal immigrants.

The Bush administration made it very clear that due process no longer applies in the U.S. when a law suspending habeas corpus went into effect in Oct. 2006.

The law states anyone considered an “enemy combatant” against the U.S. can be imprisoned indefinitely. Unfortunately, “enemy combatant” was never defined.

Translation: anyone who unlawfully immigrated into the U.S. can be considered an “enemy combatant.”

I regard this as a sign that human rights are an afterthought to our representatives.

Despite the immortal words "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” adorning the Statue of Liberty, the Bush administration continues to suspend and blatantly ignore that illegal immigrants have rights too.

Opponents of amnesty or modified naturalization guidelines are grouping illegal immigrants with radical terrorists.

They argue that illegal immigrants come to America to deplete the job market, traffic narcotics, victimize American families and in general, terrorize our comfortable suburban communities.

How did this ever happen?

In the attempt to eliminate prejudices and alleviate international tensions organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union and Amnesty International are taking a stand and fighting for immigrants and “enemy combatants” alike.

By working with members of national and local governments, the ACLU and AI fight to pass legislation enforcing basic human rights, including the right to due process.
Shouldn’t American voters focus on the reinforcement of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?”

Turning a blind eye to the wrongdoings of this administration is what got us into this mess in the first place. It’s time for American’s to take responsibility for our negligence. It’s time to send a clear message to both presidential candidates.

Get off the soap box and make promises you can keep. Reinstate and enforce our constitutional rights. We don’t care about your wealth, gender or race. We are ready to believe our government works as hard as we do to defend our values, including loving thy neighbor and an individual’s right to pursue a better life, despite their citizenship status.

Contact Jen Harris, editor-in-chief at jharri34@jccc.edu