There Was A Time. . .

Thursday, December 28th, 2006

By Christi S. King

There was a time in our history when our elected officials and our courts fought for the interests of the American citizen and not in the interest of greedy CEO’s. There was a time when the American citizen was important and if corporations perpetrated schemes that were harmful to the American worker, our elected officials and our justices were quick to stand on the side of the American citizen.

There was a time when America mattered.

In 1892, our Supreme Court Justices were deciding a case involving a foreign minister who was asked to come to America to enter into service as rector and minister of the Holy Trinity Church.

In U.S. Supreme Court RECTOR, ETC, OF HOLY TRINITY CHURCH v. U S, 143 U.S. 457 (1892), our government attempted to stop Holy Trinity Church under a law which read:

The first section describes the act forbidden, and is in these words: ‘Be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives of the United States of America, in congress assembled, that from and after the passage of this act it shall be unlawful for any person, company, partnership, or corporation, in any manner whatsoever, to prepay the transportation, or in any way assist or encourage the importation or migration, of any alien or aliens, any foreigner or foreigners, into the United States, its territories, or the District of Columbia, under contract or agreement, parole or special, express or implied, made previous to the importation or migration of such alien or aliens, foreigner or foreigners, to perform labor or service of any kind in the United States, its territories, or the District of Columbia.’

The Supreme Court Justices were deciding whether a previous ruling by a lower court was justified and if this law was meant to address all foreigners who may wish to come to this country to work or if this law, in fact, had been enacted to prevent a specific type of immigration. While the case was being decided by the Supreme Court, some very clear statements were made that are still relevant to this day.

In their decision they stated:

And, referring back to the report of the committee of the house, there appears this language: ‘It seeks to restrain and prohibit the immigration or importation of laborers who would have never seen our shores but for the inducements and allurements of men whose only object is to obtain labor at the lowest possible rate, regardless of the social and material well-being of our own citizens, and regardless of the evil consequences which result to American laborers from such immigration.’

Adding:

The inevitable tendency of their presence among us is to degrade American labor, and to reduce it to the level of the imported pauper labor.’ Page 5359, Congressional Record, 48th Cong.

We find, therefore, that the title of the act, the evil which was intended to be remedied, the circumstances surrounding the appeal to congress, the reports of the committee of each house, all concur in affirming that the intent of congress was simply to stay the influx of this cheap, unskilled labor.

You know, it would be nice to think that rather than falling all over themselves to cater to the greedy corporations among us who have lured so many illegal aliens to our nation, our elected officials would stop their foolishness and stand for the American laborers. It would be nice if they would applaud the American citizens currently lining up for the job openings at the Swift meatpacking plants and to hear them openly condemn the corporations and activists who spread the lie that Americans will not do these jobs.

It would be nice. . . but. . .

Will our new Congress have the courage and conviction of our forefathers? Or will they sell America to the highest corporate bidder?

It’s ironic. I used to be a Democrat. I left the party because of their entitlement program mentality and their steady shift to the left. But there was a time when the Democratic Party was known for standing up for the working American men and women in our country. There was a time when Senator Kennedy and other top members of the Democratic Party fought for the American citizen instead of giving speeches in a foreign language to illegal aliens brought to our nation merely to satisfy the greed of a few.

There really was a time when America mattered in the halls of Congress.

*** *** *** ***

See also:

Why Enforce the Law?. . . When you can just Embrace The Economic Reality? From StikNstein

Fingers Crossed! - Chicago church housing illegal immigrant mom fears raid imminent from Freedom Folks

AIM Report: U.S. Borders: Going-Going-Gone! from We Hate Gringos

It’s Not Over Until It’s Over On Illegal Immigration from Right Wing News

**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email the coalition and let Brian know at what level you would like to participate.**

NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For further information please refer to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

Back to Top