Opinion
4A
Thursday, April 1, 2021
My Voice
Immigration
reform is a must
as population
booms
I
n light of the recent border surge caused by Pres-
ident Joe Biden’s executive order essentially
sending word south that the border is open, we
are going to hear a lot about immigration reform.
We have been hearing that for years and nothing
happens. Illegal aliens/undocumented workers just
keep coming.
We hear
much about
a pathway to
STEVE CULLEY
citizenship.
BAKER CITY
There already
is one. It starts
in Guate-
mala, heads north through Mexico and ends when
an illegal alien contacts the border patrol and says,
“Here I am.”
They are then transported to a facility, names
taken, bus fare paid to a new destination with a
warning to come back for a court hearing, which is
ignored, while they wait for amnesty and citizenship.
It’s good politics: eventually they and their families
will vote Democratic.
It is time to replace the immigration reform poli-
cies with immigration control. The first part of that
is to define who an American is. The criteria should
be having an American parent. As it is now, you can
hop the border pregnant, deliver a brand-new anchor
baby and start the chain migration of a family.
America’s birthright citizenship comes about
by abuse of the 14th Amendment Civil War recon-
struction that was intended to make citizens of those
who had previously been slaves. It didn’t even cover
Native Americans. It was 1924 before they thought to
extend it to those who had been here for centuries.
At one time I heard of a case heading to the
Supreme Court that would settle the matter, but I
have heard no more. The court needs to weigh in.
The next thing that should happen is a national
mandatory E-VERIFY where Social Security num-
bers are checked against names before you can get
a job. If the name matches — fine. But if it doesn’t,
you are here illegally and can’t work.
Those who employ illegals should get big fines.
Desperate illegals will work a lot cheaper than native
born who compete with them.
It should also be used when applying to any federal
housing program. Also, the Social Security Admin-
istration should check to see how many are using the
same number and those who have stolen one need
to be reported to ICE. It’s no secret why there hasn’t
been any enforcement. Illegal workers pay in but don’t
draw Social Security. That brings in a lot money.
The Supreme Court needs to make it clear that the
federal government is responsible for immigration.
Sanctuary cities and states need to be abolished and
illegals turned over to ICE.
The wall needs to be completed. The construction
can be financed by a tax on wire transfers to Latin
America, which total about $40 billion a year. Walls
work. Scare a Democrat and you get a wall around
Congress.
So those who think with that organ in their chest
that pumps blood are probably feeling pretty angry
at this column, but I think that in an over-populated
country with housing shortages, homeless by the thou-
sands, cities that swallow farmland, microwaving
power lines and ever-widening freeways, it is time call
a halt.
Native-born Americans have a negative birthrate.
Liberal legal immigration quotas are ridiculous and by
adding illegals we are exploding in numbers. When I
was born in 1947 we had 137 million, we are at least
337 million now.
Too much immigration, too fast, stops assimilation
and we end up with tribes instead of Americans.
So, do I lack compassion for those desperate people
I see on the border?
No. I would like to see massive help in their home
countries, and we should.
China is filling the void caused by our inaction. We
have good people who would help, such as Doctors
Without Borders, a revived Peace Corps and a lot of
young Marines and soldiers who would be willing to
eliminate a dictator, gangs and cartels.
Not everyone who thinks there is a limit to num-
bers is a racist, xenophobic, white supremacist, but if
people don’t think their government will protect our
borders there will be a surge in their numbers.
———
Steve Culley is 73, a Vietnam War veteran and a 1984
graduate of Eastern Oregon University.
He lives in Baker City.
My Voice
Gov. Brown makes wrong move on dams
DONNA
BEVERAGE
UNION COUNTY COMMISSIONER
s a Union County commis-
sioner, farmer, rancher and
lifelong Oregonian, I under-
stand the importance of working
together to meet the needs of those I
serve. That’s why I was so frustrated
that Gov. Kate Brown recently filed a
lawsuit over how the federal govern-
ment manages the operations of the
hydropower system.
What makes the governor’s action
even more surprising is it came just
a week after the first meeting of the
Columbia Basin Collaborative, an
effort Gov. Brown herself convened
with the governors of Washington,
Idaho and Montana to protect both
salmon runs and economic interests
through dialogue. When stakeholders
come together in good faith, real prog-
ress can be made. Unfortunately,
Gov. Brown has chosen litigation over
collaboration.
We are blessed here in Oregon with
unparalleled natural beauty and eco-
nomically valuable resources. The
A
federal hydropower system, which
includes the four Snake River dams,
provides 95% of the reliable, afford-
able electricity used in rural Oregon.
The power benefits of the Snake River
dams are shared by more than 1 mil-
lion Oregonians. According to a three-
year study conducted by federal agen-
cies last year, breaching the dams
could increase energy costs in rural
Oregon by as much as 50%. That’s
something we can ill afford in Union
County, where our median household
income is $45,564 a year, well below
the state average of $63,426.
This lower income means the
average Union County resident spends
nearly a third of their monthly income
on housing, and a full 16% of our
community struggles to purchase
enough food for themselves and their
families. We can’t afford to see our
electricity rates climb higher.
Like Oregonians across the state,
residents of Union County care about
the environment. The hydropower
generated by the Snake River dams
is a carbon-free, renewable source of
energy, and there are no good alterna-
tives for replacement. Federal agen-
cies estimate that replacing the lost
hydropower would require more fossil
fuels, resulting in a net increase of
roughly 3.3 million metric tons of
carbon emissions annually — the
equivalent of 712,944 additional pas-
senger vehicles on the region’s roads.
At a time when the state is setting
goals to reduce carbon emissions, this
would be a devastating step backward.
Wind and solar are good, renewable
sources of electricity, but they don’t
have enough generating capacity to
make up the hydropower we would
lose from the Snake River dams.
The dams were also put in because
of flooding in the spring and low
water in the late summer. This is
not good for fish, agriculture or
recreation.
Pursuing legal action while at the
same time working with the Columbia
Basin Collaborative is hypocrit-
ical and harmful to those who are
counting on the CBC to engage with
stakeholders in good faith. In order
for the CBC to be successful, I urge
the governor to withdraw her lawsuit
and find common ground to develop a
long-term strategy for dam operations.
Rural Oregonians are counting on her.
———
Donna Beverage is a Union County
commissioner and lives in Union.
Letters
An Easter prayer
for each of us
We are into our new year,
2021. Easter, April 4, is almost
here. As we celebrate our
risen savior, Jesus Christ, who
stretched out his arms on the
cross in love for you and me,
forgiving our sins and giving
us his free love gift — eternal
life — let us give him all the
praise and the glory that only
he deserves.
As we stay faithful in God’s
word, which is true and just,
let it fill our hearts with love
and joy as we sing, “Turn
your eyes upon Jesus. Look
full in his wonderful face and
the things on earth will grow
strangely dim in the light of
his glory and grace.”
What an awesome God we
serve! May each of you have a
blessed Easter is my prayer.
Janice Roberts
La Grande
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