Editor,
In just over one week, I may be facing a nightmare.
My partner will have to go register with the INS because this country has decided to violate his civil rights. Just because he happens to be from Pakistan. Now, if that particular agent he sees happens to be having a bad day, he could very well likely be deported back to Pakistan.
Even though he's lived most of his life in the western world, been educated here in the United States up to his masters in art, he's considered a "threat" to national security. He will have to go to the INS and be photographed, fingerprinted and "interviewed." In addition, if he moves he must notify them within 10 days as well as reregister every year he's in this country. Only males, over 16 years old, from 13 different countries, mostly Middle Eastern/north African and Islamic, must register (If that's not racial profiling, I don't know what is). This sounds eerily like what Japanese-Americans had to do during WW II. Even somewhat reminiscent of how Jews were treated early on by Hitler (don't even get me started on the similarities between him and our dear old president).
Tell me this, if there is a terrorist in this country from one of those countries, do you think he's going to register? He is going to want to stay pretty low under the radar don't you think? Do you even think he's legally here? Look at the problem with aliens from Mexico, do you think it's any harder for people from other countries to get in? No. If someone really wants to get into this country they will find a way. And once they're here, if they want to do some damage they'll find a way. This registration crap is not going to find terrorists.
Bin Laden, who obviously has not been hunted down, has achieved his goal. He's been able to strike fear into the hearts of our citizens and government -- so much so that we're allowing our government to take away our freedoms little by little until there's nothing left. Even guests of this country aren't treated as so.
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When are you morons, who are so blindly "patriotic," going to wake up and realize that the United States is not the center of the universe? There are countries and cultures out there that have been around for thousands of years longer than ours that deserve our respect. We're only about 230 years old and acting like an unruly teenage brat. And notice that all the little kids on the playground that we bully are starting to band together.
We must be the change we want to see in this world.
Free the USA.
Erik Leve
UNM student
