Letter: Being elected to the County Board is serious business with a financial responsibility

keyboard

To the Editor:

Regarding the headline on the front page of the Northwest Herald on Wednesday April 28, with the headline, “Local vote”:

There is a photograph showing a group of McHenry County Board members assembled at the corner of Front and West Elm streets in McHenry protesting with signs showing their displeasure with fellow board members over an agreement between the McHenry County Jail and the Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The board has a collective responsibility to the taxpayers of McHenry County, and not to the personal viewpoints of individual members. If revenue will be lost by canceling the contract and taxpayers will have to foot the bill, a reasoned argument must be made as to why this is a good thing.

Being elected to the County Board is serious business with a financial responsibility to McHenry County taxpayers.

The moral indignation and virtue signaling regarding the rights of immigrants illegally crossing our borders does not impress me. Law breakers should never be rewarded.

Forty-plus years ago, my husband and I came to the U.S. from the U.K. Before we were allowed to live and work in the U.S., we had to obtain our alien registration card, which required:

• An interview at the American Embassy (after a satisfactory background check).

• Fingerprints.

• A letter from a work sponsor.

• Proof of health insurance.

• Proof that we had a place to stay.

In short, we had to provide evidence that, quite rightly, we did not have criminal backgrounds; we would be self-supporting and would not be dependent upon the U.S. welfare system.

Entering the U.S. should never be easy and the advocates for Illegal immigration, Open Borders and Amnesty, devalue the privilege of being or becoming a U.S. citizen.

I believe most immigrants similar to my husband and I, who came here legally and subsequently obtained citizenship, will agree with my sentiments.

Contrary to many anti-ICE protagonists, ICE is not a “rogue organization” and in fact is responsible for saving the lives of many young children left in the desert to die by coyotes, paid for by irresponsible parents, who themselves should be prosecuted for child endangerment.

Catherine Morgan

Cary