THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 5, 1995 TAG: 9508310018
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 32 lines
An article in the Aug. 27 edition stated that the U.S. Commission on Immigration proposed, and the chairman of the House Immigration subcommittee introduced, a bill to deny public benefits not only to legal immigrants but also to naturalized citizens.
If this bill passes, it will deny public benefits - Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, etc. - to legal immigrants who chose to become citizens of this country.
I am one of thousands who migrated to this country. I became a citizen 70 years ago, probably before the committee chairman was even born. I served in the U.S. Navy for 20 years, seeing action in both World War II and the Korean War. Does this qualify me only for second-class citizenship?
I am sure that many more of the potential second-class citizens have served this country in various ways, some having even been elected to public office. Surely, the honorables in Washington can find better things to do than come up with such ridiculous legislation. If not, perhaps we had better be looking for some replacements.
RICHARD H. FISCHER
Norfolk, Aug. 28, 1995 by CNB