In 1492 Christopher Columbus stepped on what we call today the Americas; introducing not only civility and Christianity to the native population, but also malaria and the bullet.

By 1493 more than half of the 250,000 Arawaks (the natives of the Island Columbus landed on) were killed, and by the 1600s they were permanently erased from history.

In the same fashion just a few years later the Spaniards stepped onto the Florida region, and had the same devastating effect as Columbus’ arrival.

What we call the beginning of the new world, the Apaches, Tocabago and the Calusa Indian tribes call the ending of theirs.

In the 19th century, Americans began a ruthless process known as “Indian removal,” because they felt it was their Manifest Destiny to encompass the Atlantic to the Pacific. Millions perished as a result of this God-given destiny.

I do not say these things because I hate America or because it is easy to look on past mistakes and point a finger of judgment.

However, it seems to me very ironic, that a country with such a violent birth–all for the cause of liberty and the rights of man–refuse those precious freedoms to others.

I am discussing of course amnesty, a type of legal forgiveness for something that they should not have to be forgiven for; a desire for freedom.

I am not only against the deportation of immigrants from this country but I’m also against this extremely long, grueling process of citizenship that immigrants are forced to go through to become citizens.

In this process there is a test a prospective citizen must take, that only 3.5 percent of the population of Phoenix, Ariz. (the place where it is now legal to racially profile) can pass.

Also in a country with no official language, English is required on these exams.

What are we afraid of? Those who were once called pilgrims became immigrants, and immigrants became aliens.

This type of fear and loathing of fellow human beings because they are on the different side of a line that does not exist, is a type of nationalism that destroys, never builds.

On the New York harbor stands a woman, representing the Roman Goddess Libertas, who is the embodiment of liberty and freedom. Inscribed on this statue is a poem saying, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

The lady is trampling a broken chain as if she had been freed only by the idea of our democracy. It seems today that as these immigrants are trying to lose the chains of poverty, corruption, and hopelessness, we try to keep them enslaved; and when one is enslaved all are not free.

When did it stop being our mission to be the world’s hope? When did it become a crime for somebody to desire the freedoms that we so often take for granted? Isn’t that our purpose, to allow the huddled masses to breathe free? Isn’t that our goal, to be the shining city on a hill? Not to turn the tired and poor away, but to embrace them.

We try to make the world safe for democracy but we won’t allow democracy for those who come here desperately seeking it.

We shouldn’t open our borders only because it is economically advantageous, though it is.

An open economic policy (the free movement of people and money across borders) not only gives the consumer a greater range of choices, it also gives our industry a larger consumer base and the ability to grow.

The opening of our borders not only means that people can cross into our nation with greater ease, but our ideals can cross our borders with more ease.

And if our ideals, and our type of mixed economy were to spill over into Mexico that would result in a much more stable Mexican economy, and give no incentive for others to want to move from their own homes just to survive when they can enjoy those freedoms from where they are.

So the greatest way to create a democratic world is not through war or forceful occupancy, but by freeing our borders and allowing people who would otherwise not know liberty, to know.

We should not do this only because it is advantageous in the keeping peace, although it is.

Viewing other peoples not as nationalities but as human beings, not as aliens but partners in the struggle of progress; this would not only tear down the walls that history has built for us causing most wars, but also give everyone a common vision and a common goal, peace and prosperity. But we shouldn’t do this for any reason other than the fact that it is the right thing to do.

Until we have the same realization as Socrates, “I’m a citizen not of Athens, nor of Greece, but of the whole world,” only then can we move forward.

Unless we understand that our nationality is not a race or country of origin, but an idea and a goal for each generation step toward.

Until we realize that the immigrant’s goal is not to take your job, your home, or your way of life, but simply for them and their children to have a chance. Then and only then, will pure and perfect freedom ever exist.

Tony M. Burge, Jr

Pedro