County

Constituent's Letter to Commissioner: In Support of Resolution Against Housing Border-Crisis Children

By Joe Hyde live, Jul 17, 2014
 

Below is a constituent letter sent to Tom Green County Commissioner Aubrey de Cordoba concerning Tuesday's resolution from the court that passed 3-1-1 (Commissioner Bill Ford voted against and de Cordoba abstained). The letter was carbon-copied to us and it is from south San Angelo residents Ken and Mary Casper. It reads:

Sir:

We attended the County Commissioners’ Court today. Our main concern was the proposed resolution rejecting any attempt by the federal government to bring—dump—illegal alien children in our county. The subject was a difficult one. Both sides had good arguments to put forward, and while we disagree with Mr. Ford’s position, we respect him for voicing it and for casting his vote as he did.
 
In our opinion, however, Mr. Ford missed the point. The issue is not Christian charity. There are any number of ways in which we can contribute to the well-being of these exploited children—donations of time, money and goods to churches and other charitable and social organizations, for example. Bringing those children here, however, will not solve the underlying problem or necessarily relieve their suffering. On the contrary, it is likely to exacerbate the situation by encouraging the traffickers to continue their illegal and immoral activities.
 
The issue was and is the rule of law. We are a nation of laws—at least we used to be. It is law that gives us order, and order that has allowed us to be the most prosperous and generous nation on earth. It is precisely because our current administration is flagrantly violating our laws that we are faced with the chaos today’s resolution was designed to address.
 
We were greatly disappointed by your abstention in the vote.
 
More than disappointed. We were disheartened. You were elected to your office to make decisions, to cast votes. Today you failed that primary duty on a question of major importance. We strongly recommend, therefore, that you resign your seat as a county commissioner and let someone who is willing to make tough decisions be elected.
 
Sincerely,
 
 
Kenneth Casper

Mary A. Casper

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Comments

Bronc, Thu, 07/17/2014 - 08:32
Good for the Caspers. They, in my opinion, are correct. When faced with the lawlessness of our current President, the citizens (and our elected representatives) need to stand firm against tyranny.
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I support Commissioner Ford. These poor children are already here and it should be our job to help them. This problem will not get better by us turning our backs on these exploited children. I believe Commissioner Ford was the only commissioner who made the "hard" decision. Commissioner de Cordoba didn't make a decision and the other Comissioner's took the easy way out by saying we don't want to help in this county. So I applaud Ford! We need to help not only because it is the Christian thing to do but because it is the right thing to do we as Americans should help. We are a country of immigrants, these children are here and they need us.
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If we, the public, really cared about these children, every American family would at least adopt one of these children each and take care of them.... Because we care so much!! I bet if the government mandated that each American family adopt one or two children each, those that are crying about America turning her back on these illegal immigrants would suddenly realize they aren't able to afford it. It's easy to get on a soapbox, and declare how greedy and selfish America is, but reduce it to an individual level, and a person's belief changes quickly.
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jdgt, Thu, 07/17/2014 - 09:33
There were evil people, in a cave an ocean away... who communicated and conspired and managed to orchestrate the largest attack on US soil in decades... They flew planes into buildings and killed our people, and we are STILL suffering from that! There are people, somewhere South of our borders... conspiring to find a way to continue crumbling our nation that was once great. These are not just "poor, innocent people running from war." SOMEONE is teaching these people what to say... SOMEONE is sending them here, with a purpose far greater than obtaining freedom. SOMEONE down there knows that there are freakin' ignorant people who think with nothing but the hearts on their sleeves, and that if they send enough people up here, the American population will continue to weaken. We are burdened, and strained and we cannot even take care of our own! These people, from another country, are NOT our problem.
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I did not say anything about Americans being greedy or selfish, and if that was all you got out of my opinion I believe that says more about you then me... I said it is our job to help these children. When the FLDS children needed help we opened up the coliseum and took care of them until this were settled and they had other places for them to go. Why are these children any different?
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Why isn't it the responsibility of South American governments? Why isn't it the responsibility of their parents? Are you responsible for my child's healthcare? Am my responsible for your child's nutritional needs? I am just about fed up with adults who cannot afford to have children continuing to have them. Just because a person is poor or lives in a horrible environment does not mean they have to have children. Personal responsibility has just been thrown out the window. And if you feel that throwing money at the problem is going to fix anything, you are completely incorrect. What it may do however is increase the amount of children coming across the border. Also before I forget, Mexico is holding an innocent U.S. Marine in prison and will not release him. I guess only America can get run over and disrespected by other countries!
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While in US custody, by all means take care of the children but send them back to their parents as soon as possible. The parents and the respective local governments of South America are the ones who should be fixing this problem, not the US.
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Great leaders make decisions using the laws of the land period. Leaders who make decisions from the heart or based on political and religious views are weak at best. Our country is worse off now than ever before because of the wrong decisions that our elected officials have made.
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Is it not also "Christian" to follow rules set forth by man, or does this identity give one a free pass to do anything one pleases - as long as it is defined as "Christian"? I believe in helping these folks out through government institutions set in place by Americans (i.e. Islam, Christian, Pagan, Pastafarian, etc.) It is through these means we can operate as a country. If, on the other hand, we intend to govern solely on religious beliefs, then I would remind one to look at the Middle East. We can still be "Christian" by electing to process the immigrants through established methods of governance - after all, we're not sending them to the lions or committing genocide! There is nothing wrong with following ones morals, but be careful in balancing morals with governance. Despite any argument to the contrary, there is a gray area. I believe it would also be the "Christian" thing to help our veterans, or homeless Americans - but that's another debate for another time.
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And now is the time for a debate about Americas's needy. It would be a shame if one day we reached a point of not helping America's needy because we were too busy taking care of illegal immigrants first. Last time I checked, one can become a legal immigrant through a legal process? Of course some like to cut in line.
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You are right it is not our responsibility. We should not have to take care of these children their own country should. But that doesn't change the fact that they are here. Our border security is not working as well as it should or they would not have made it here. But now that they are here we can't just drop back off at the other side of the border to fend for themselves. What I want to know is why it's Ok to help some but not others? Is there a set of guidelines somewhere that states who deserves help and who doesn't? We send millions if not billions to other countries yet do nothing for our own people and people who come into our country...how does that make sense? Take them in, immunize them, and care for them until more permanent arrangements can be made even if it is just sending them back where they came from. But what kind of world would we live in if we didn't help those in need?
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I always find it interesting how church (and other) groups raise thousands of dollars to travel to needy communities overseas to assist them with building, feeding, etc. Would that money also be well spent in our country helping folks in similar distress? I guess not, because they are "more" needy - whatever that means. At the end of the day, all I see is religious organizations proselytizing to further the agenda of their denomination, at the expense of the needy in America. I guess that's the Christian thing to do.
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I understand your point. However, our government is not turning these children away, it's against federal law to turn them away. The only children that can be immediately sent back are children from Mexico. The children from the other South American countries are given a day in court to determine if they will be sent back. Meanwhile, your tax dollars are being used to find relatives here in the states to take them in until their court date. Once they contact a relative, federal authorities transport them to whichever state said relative resides.
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I can't speak for all churches but I know the one I attend helps many of san Antonio's homeless and needy... Just say'in:-)
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The FLDS children were not entering the country illegally, they were not bringing in diseases that have been eradicated in the US. There is no immunization for tuberculosis and we don't test for it like we used to. It is easily spread and a drug resistant strain is on the rise in Mexico. It is not our "job" to help these children....it is the compassionate thing to do, true. It is the job of our government to protect and serve the people of the United States.
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