Immigration is a hot subject today in America. Most Americans are concerned about the illegal activity as well as any amnesty for people who commit illegal acts by skirting the law. I am all for reform in our immigration laws which seem outdated and conflicting because they seem to protect the wrong people and make it hard for others who want to get into this country the legal and proper way.
But there remains one issue that many people seem to know little or nothing about, and this concerns orphaned children fathered by Americans overseas, most of them servicemen. In Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Korea, and Japan live hundreds of thousands of these children who are denied citizenship. Many can prove their heritage and still cannot come to this country. The American government claims that these children will not be allowed because they are products of prostitution and the government feels it should not take any responsibility for them. These children are called Amerasians.
Many of these children were such products of what the government here believes are illegal acts of prostitution. But look at the facts here. In many of those countries, prostitution is legal. So it cannot be construed as an illegal act, can it?
Prostitution is legal in Nevada. And you can bet your last dollar that if a child was born out of an act of prostitution there, not only would the child be a full citizen without question, but the father would certainly be held responsible for support as well. But let someone sneak over from Mexico in a train car, and even have a criminal past, and they are given a slap on the wrist, a drivers license, and amnesty.
These Amerasian children were born of American parents. Most of them live in abject poverty and daily scorn because they are not fully from either world. Many are sold as babies and into prostitution or worse for less than most of us spend on video rentals every year. So the question is how can most of them afford the stringent process required for them to gain what should be theirs by right of birth?
There have been people through the years trying to fight this battle, from the Pearl S. Buck Foundation to local churches and missionaries abroad. But one site I know of is a new site, run by an amazing young woman of Amerasian heritage who began this as a favor for friends and family who were seeking to find their parents. She charges nothing for her time and service and has been instrumental in reuniting several families and finding parents and children for those who were separated for various reasons. Jennifer Williams runs the site called Amerasian Family Finder at amerasianfamilyfinder.org and is a dedicated individual who seeks nothing but reunification for these children and parents.
Going through her site you will see a large cache of information on Amerasians and their plight. Many of these fathers were separated from their children in various ways, whether the mother sold the child, or died, and some never knew they had a child. The stories are heartbreaking for these forgotten Americans. I came upon the site after Jennifer reunited a friend of mine with his son, and the story behind it is unbelievable.
There are still children from WWII in Japan, all over Korea from that war, Vietnam, and the Philippines from WWII to now as the islands provided a strategic vantage point to most Asian and South Pacific countries. Many European nations have already accepted the responsibility for their forgotten children, and assist them in becoming citizens and reuniting with their families. They feel it is their responsibility since they sent their soldiers there in the first place.
If the American government excludes acts of prostitution as a reason to be admitted as an American, I doubt we would have many politicians left at all if they applied this to themselves. Do they ask the millions of Hispanics who their daddy is before they allow them amnesty? If the government is so concerned, perhaps they should have the American parents who fathered these children take responsibility. Many of these children eventually find their parents here, only to be told they were a mistake from the past. I know of one mother who sold her Amerasian son at birth, changed her name, and now lives here in America with a husband and 3 children. She refuses to speak with her son. His father has looked for him for decades, and has finally found him. But his mother lied to immigration, and simply married a serviceman, and lives the good life while she sold her own flesh and blood to get here. Just the kind of citizen we all want living next door. I hear slave traders can raise the property value.
Another father in California who refuses to accept his own daughter even after she found him breaks my heart. But what can be done if the government has no way for these children to find their way into our society? We can allow people into this nation who sold their own child, even though slavery has been abolished and is illegal here, to be a citizenship via marriage. But we cannot allow a child with American blood in? Again, the illegal activity wins citizenship over those who have no recourse, but have American blood. An illegal can give birth here and the child becomes a citizen. But they claim that illegal activity is cause to reject citizenship. What is going on here? Why does this pendulum swing only one way?
They should allow them to become citizens, and if these parents do not want these children, at least have them pay for the testing and paperwork for these children to have a start here. Small child support payment in my opinion, but it is something. Otherwise, many of these children will always be outcast. They will remain in poverty and prostitution, they will continue to be statistics for crime, and they will never know their full heritage.
It is high time to change our immigration laws here. According to the Amerasian USA group: "Introduced by Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), the Amerasian Naturalization Act of 2005 [Bill Number: H.R. 2687] has so far generated bipartisan support of 20 members of Congress." A little progress has been made, but more support is needed.
I would prefer to have my tax money go to accepting these Forgotten Children and giving them the head start that their birthright gives them, than to have it used to pay the high cost of illegal immigration activity as we see it today. In the end I believe we would have better citizens, those who will be putting back into the system rather than remain a drain on it.
I challenge anyone reading this to visit Amerasian Family Finder and see if you can walk away from there without weeping for those who still cry for their parents. As adults, children, and those who will never have the opportunity to tell their story.
May God have mercy on these Forgotten Children, and on our nation if we continue to abandon our own.
Pete Fisher is a concerned citizen in the Chicago area who has written several articles on the economy, educational system, politics, and religion. He is a 6 year veteran of the Armed Forces.
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But there remains one issue that many people seem to know little or nothing about, and this concerns orphaned children fathered by Americans overseas, most of them servicemen. In Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Korea, and Japan live hundreds of thousands of these children who are denied citizenship. Many can prove their heritage and still cannot come to this country. The American government claims that these children will not be allowed because they are products of prostitution and the government feels it should not take any responsibility for them. These children are called Amerasians.
Many of these children were such products of what the government here believes are illegal acts of prostitution. But look at the facts here. In many of those countries, prostitution is legal. So it cannot be construed as an illegal act, can it?
Prostitution is legal in Nevada. And you can bet your last dollar that if a child was born out of an act of prostitution there, not only would the child be a full citizen without question, but the father would certainly be held responsible for support as well. But let someone sneak over from Mexico in a train car, and even have a criminal past, and they are given a slap on the wrist, a drivers license, and amnesty.
These Amerasian children were born of American parents. Most of them live in abject poverty and daily scorn because they are not fully from either world. Many are sold as babies and into prostitution or worse for less than most of us spend on video rentals every year. So the question is how can most of them afford the stringent process required for them to gain what should be theirs by right of birth?
There have been people through the years trying to fight this battle, from the Pearl S. Buck Foundation to local churches and missionaries abroad. But one site I know of is a new site, run by an amazing young woman of Amerasian heritage who began this as a favor for friends and family who were seeking to find their parents. She charges nothing for her time and service and has been instrumental in reuniting several families and finding parents and children for those who were separated for various reasons. Jennifer Williams runs the site called Amerasian Family Finder at amerasianfamilyfinder.org and is a dedicated individual who seeks nothing but reunification for these children and parents.
Going through her site you will see a large cache of information on Amerasians and their plight. Many of these fathers were separated from their children in various ways, whether the mother sold the child, or died, and some never knew they had a child. The stories are heartbreaking for these forgotten Americans. I came upon the site after Jennifer reunited a friend of mine with his son, and the story behind it is unbelievable.
There are still children from WWII in Japan, all over Korea from that war, Vietnam, and the Philippines from WWII to now as the islands provided a strategic vantage point to most Asian and South Pacific countries. Many European nations have already accepted the responsibility for their forgotten children, and assist them in becoming citizens and reuniting with their families. They feel it is their responsibility since they sent their soldiers there in the first place.
If the American government excludes acts of prostitution as a reason to be admitted as an American, I doubt we would have many politicians left at all if they applied this to themselves. Do they ask the millions of Hispanics who their daddy is before they allow them amnesty? If the government is so concerned, perhaps they should have the American parents who fathered these children take responsibility. Many of these children eventually find their parents here, only to be told they were a mistake from the past. I know of one mother who sold her Amerasian son at birth, changed her name, and now lives here in America with a husband and 3 children. She refuses to speak with her son. His father has looked for him for decades, and has finally found him. But his mother lied to immigration, and simply married a serviceman, and lives the good life while she sold her own flesh and blood to get here. Just the kind of citizen we all want living next door. I hear slave traders can raise the property value.
Another father in California who refuses to accept his own daughter even after she found him breaks my heart. But what can be done if the government has no way for these children to find their way into our society? We can allow people into this nation who sold their own child, even though slavery has been abolished and is illegal here, to be a citizenship via marriage. But we cannot allow a child with American blood in? Again, the illegal activity wins citizenship over those who have no recourse, but have American blood. An illegal can give birth here and the child becomes a citizen. But they claim that illegal activity is cause to reject citizenship. What is going on here? Why does this pendulum swing only one way?
They should allow them to become citizens, and if these parents do not want these children, at least have them pay for the testing and paperwork for these children to have a start here. Small child support payment in my opinion, but it is something. Otherwise, many of these children will always be outcast. They will remain in poverty and prostitution, they will continue to be statistics for crime, and they will never know their full heritage.
It is high time to change our immigration laws here. According to the Amerasian USA group: "Introduced by Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), the Amerasian Naturalization Act of 2005 [Bill Number: H.R. 2687] has so far generated bipartisan support of 20 members of Congress." A little progress has been made, but more support is needed.
I would prefer to have my tax money go to accepting these Forgotten Children and giving them the head start that their birthright gives them, than to have it used to pay the high cost of illegal immigration activity as we see it today. In the end I believe we would have better citizens, those who will be putting back into the system rather than remain a drain on it.
I challenge anyone reading this to visit Amerasian Family Finder and see if you can walk away from there without weeping for those who still cry for their parents. As adults, children, and those who will never have the opportunity to tell their story.
May God have mercy on these Forgotten Children, and on our nation if we continue to abandon our own.
Pete Fisher is a concerned citizen in the Chicago area who has written several articles on the economy, educational system, politics, and religion. He is a 6 year veteran of the Armed Forces.
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