Reece Gardner: Immigration crises at the border

Most of us support immigration. In fact, most of us are of immigrant ancestry. We rejoiced as we watched the event in this area on July 4th when people from various parts of the world were welcomed as new American citizens. But we want entry into this country to be legal and proper. My Emma taught citizenship classes for several years at Lenoir Community College and it was always so gratifying to see men and women from other countries declare their allegiance to our country as they proudly worked their way toward American citizenship.

This is the way it should be done. But we have some in positions of power in this country who are promoting illegal entry into our country by promising such things as free health care, free housing, free education, guaranteed wages, and on and on. These kinds of wild promises only encourage people to illegally cross our borders and then be met with disappointment and despair.

What part of "illegal" do these people not understand? What is happening now at our southern border is an invasion of our country by hordes of undocumented men, women, and children and it must be stopped! We need to immediately catch and return those who enter illegally. We cannot afford to care for them with all their daily needs. It isn't fair to us nor to them. Billions are at present being spent at the border for such things as medical care, food, and clothing.

This is a recipe for disaster. We see evidence of drugs, rape, and child abuse, and our hearts go out to these huddled masses, many who are suffering through no fault of their own. Let's pray that God will intervene and give them comfort and relief. We can all say, "But for the grace of God, there go I."

Now let's close on a lighter note: Two men were seated next to each other at a bar. After a while, one guy looks at the other and says, "I can't help but think, from listening to you, that you're from Ireland." The other guy responds, "Yes, I am!" The first guy says, "So am I! and where about from Ireland might you be?" The other guy answers, "I'm from Dublin, I am."

The first guy responds, "Sure and by golly, so am I! And what street did you live on in Dublin?"

The other guy says, "A lovely little area it was, I lived on McCleary Street in the old central part of town."

The first guy says, "It's a small world. So did I! And to what school did you attend?"

The first guy answers, "Well now, I went to St. Mary's of course."

The first guy gets really excited and says, "So did I. Tell me, what year did you graduate?"

The other guy answers, "Well now I graduated in 1964."

The first guy exclaims, "The good Lord must be smiling down on us. I can't hardly believe our good luck at winding up in the same bar tonight. Can you believe it? I graduated from St. Mary's in 1964 my own self."

About this time another guy walks into the bar, sits down, and orders a beer. The bartender walks over shaking his head, and mutters, "It's going to be a long night tonight." The guy asks, "Why do you say that?" The bartender replies, "The Murphy twins are drunk again!" Have a wondrous day!