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The illegal flood is just overwhelming

Frank White
Frank White

Apparently, lawmakers from the heartland of Tennessee are seeing something much more menacing than I see with illegal immigrants in the state.

It seems senators from Shelbyville and Murfreesboro find their districts overrun by illegal immigrants. The pair along with some other harsh-toned wags in the state legislature are focusing much of their efforts in this session on stemming the whelming tide of illegal immigrants.

I remember a commercial from one of those senators in his failed U.S. House primary campaign where he said simply, “If we don’t stop them, they’ll just keep on coming.” I kept wondering about that all during the campaign. Was it that big of a problem and I just wasn’t aware of it? Obviously, it didn’t strike a cord with the voters in that Congressional district either.

Despite the scare tactics, I’m not alone. Only 3 percent my fellow Tennesseans think immigration is a top priority for the state, according to a recent Vanderbilt University poll. Poll respondents think as I do that the economy and creating jobs are top priorities for Tennessee.

Instead, these senators and some of their colleagues in the house are insisting that state and local police should determine the citizenship of every person they stop. I’m still trying to figure out why my state driver’s license isn’t enough. Will I have to carry my passport to go down the street to lunch?

There is one more piece of legislation on the horizon that concerns me even more because of its subtle erosion of Constitutional rights. They want to require a photo ID for every person who shows up to vote. My legally obtained voter registration card won’t be enough. I also have to produce my driver’s license, military ID, passport, or some other photo ID. Somehow this also is supposed to stop convicted felons from voting. I’m not sure how that works.

The voter ID bill may produce my first act of civil disobedience since the 1970s. After having dutifully voted in every election since 1972, I may now be denied the right to vote because I will refuse to produce a photo ID. As a veteran, I have defended freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and I’m not going to relinquish that freedom quietly.

Frank White
Frank Whitehttp://www.mediaworksdesign.com/
Frank White is a native of east Tennessee and reveres the hills and nature of the Cumberland Plateau and east Tennessee. He enjoys backpacking, canoeing and flyfishing. He and his wife, Natalie, have been Clarksville residents since 1979. Frank is the owner of MediaWorks, a design and printing company in Clarksville, TN. He earned a BS in mass communications and political science from Middle Tennessee State University and a master of arts in journalism from the Indiana University School of Journalism at Bloomington. He is a distinguished military graduate from ROTC at Indiana University and is retired from the U.S. Army Reserve having also served in the Tennessee Army National Guard. He served with the U.S. Army VII Corps in Operation Desert Storm. Frank is a passionate follower of Christ and seeks to mentor others in exploring the endless depths of grace.
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1 COMMENT

  1. Why in the world would anyone defend people breaking our law to come here illegally? It’s astounding how many are OK with this.. And they think anyone who dares expect the laws to be followed is somehow un Christian, un American, un kind. It’s amazing! You have it totally backwards…We have immigration laws for a reason.. A good reason..Asking them to be adhered to is NOT asking for too much. When we do not have rule of law, we have the total chaos of today.

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