Refugees..... Welcome???

Mr. Davis,

You are to be commended for your humanitarian concern, in your creation of the sticker, 'Refugees Welcome'.

And I know, in its creation, there is a bit of 'in your face' or indignation to those who take a hard line stance to at least a few refugee issues. Right? Well in addressing these issues, I wish to pose a few questions, and hopefully, provide some answers.

The United States from its inception has been, as the Statue of Liberty portrays, a land to welcome the huddled masses. America has been the great melting pot of the world. Personally, my great grandparents, in the 1800's, came from Sicily, Ireland, Denmark, and a few generations earlier, from Germany (Philadelphia, 1754). They homesteaded and they farmed. So I am 100% a son of immigrants.

 And for the most part, I enjoy the diversity of other cultures, and have encouraged Hispanic, Asian, Europeans, and Russians, specifically, to retain the core of their heritage, their language, customs, cuisine, even as they assimilate into American culture.

Yet however compassionate and robust our nation has been in the past to welcome immigrants, coming into 2016 we face a number of challanges: #1, we are 20 TRILLION dollars in debt; #2, we face several financial giants we need to tackle, our aging infrastructure, a failing Social Security at the time when a surge of Baby Boomers are retiring, a major question mark regarding our health care system is another elephant in the room, and our own huddled masses of homeless and unemployed Americans are  in dire need. On top of this, many college graduates wanting to come here to work end up competing for jobs of college graduates that are already here.  In other words, we're not broke, we as a nation are beyond broke.

So  taking just these problems, I am wondering how a nation of our debt can continue to accept more of the huddled masses? Are you proposing that we go farther in debt to do so? You, my friend, have a big heart, but you're in denial.

What is the cost of the recent surge of unaccompanied CHILDREN coming across our borders? 20 TRILLION in debt, and social programs maxed out, don't forget. It comes to my mind that perhaps good hearted people like yourself, instead of indicting citizens of our country who look at that debt and say enough is enough, could put up some privately funded money to bear this burden. Mind you, it'll take a lot more than just the profit from the sale of a few stickers.

At any rate, in light of our problems, are those people who want LEGAL immigration heartless? They're not against immigration, they just want immigration on OUR terms (as a unified nation) and not the terms of the hoards wanting to storm our border. Is that wrong?

Regarding the recent issue of the migrants, or refugees from the Middle East,  there are added, MAJOR complications. Radical Islamists have declared war on us. Every day, somewhere in the world, there is an Islamic attack upon innocent people. ISIS and Al Qaeda have vowed that they are going to infiltrate our nation. Are you aware of the costs of security measures we have had to take? It's not just at airports. Every major event demands hundreds of security forces to prevent another World Trade Center, Boston Marathon bombing, San Bernardino, Islamic extremist attack. Because of our security forces, many threats have been averted.It is estimated that 10% of the Muslims living here now support Sharia law, which supersedes our democratic laws, and 25% support violent jihad! Hello - could we possibly have a problem here?

Both the FBI and Homeland Security has warned that potential immigrants from Middle East countries with active terrorist cells cannot be properly vetted. With these threats, does it make sense to allow thousands of Muslim refugees to flood our borders? What will that do to our already overburdened security forces? And regarding the recent migration of thousands flooding into European countries, how is that working out? It may not be politically correct to call attention to it, but recent news has filtered out of Germany: there are over 50 'no go zones' where Muslims have declared 'Sharia' law, eroding democracy. News from Sweden, Belgium, France and England haven't been much better. When I hear of train stations in Munich being vacated, New Years Eve celebrations being canceled because of terrorist threats, I think of how radically Europe is changing, and not for the better! Have you heard that the refugee camp in Calais (The 'Jungle') is considered Europe's 'Black Eye'? Is this what we want in America?

Have you looked into Islamic laws and history? I know there are millions of 'moderate' Muslims that deplore violence, however that does nothing to change what Islamic laws are. Their laws, as history confirms, is violence, world domination, and the destruction of democracy. Those moderate Muslims that are assimilating into our society are doing so at the peril of other Muslims that consider that a mortal sin against the teaching of their prophet.

These issues are not like other immigration issues. I have no problem with any culture - or various religion for that matter. Hispanic, Greek, Laotian, Chinese, Bolivian, Russian, Scandanavian, and the list goes on. Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh. Never once in my life have I heard about any nationality or religion immigrating here and attempting to shove their customs down our throats - except for Islam. The nut case shootings in schools, theaters or shopping malls - horrendous as they are, are not tied to an organized religious or ethnic cause. The crimes committed centuries ago by people professing Christianity totally missed the mark, as the doctrine for violence, forced conversions and world dominance in the New Testament simply does not exist. But it is embedded in the teaching of Islam. It was the order of the day for Muhammad in the 7th century, and it is today for those who follow him. Moslems that embrace Muhammad and denounce violence are faced with a paradox.

Honestly, people who take a hard line approach to immigration are not heartless, nor are they succumbing to fear. Instead, they are standing up to face the challenges instead of hiding from them or waiting until it's too late. We not only have a right but an obligation to protect our freedoms and way of life that we inherited from the sacrifice and hard work of our ancestors. Taking all the above objections, it is actually an understatement that we need to be prudent - we are facing a crisis on many levels, and we do not want to exacerbate our problems by opening our borders.

So until we can tackle the problems we are facing, I am not in the market for your stickers. The very idea of them is not really a snub to the face of any hard liners of immigration - they snub the actual problems we face, reaffirming a culture of the blind and ignorant, making any viable answers to any solutions farther from reality.

Happy New Year.