Former U.S. Congressman and Lt. Col. Allen West expressed his opposition to a potential move by Pres. Obama to use military enlistment as a vehicle to grant amnesty to illegal aliens. In a post on his website on Thursday, Lt. Col. West said, "the purpose of serving our nation should not be about earning citizenship. It should be about being a guardian of the Republic." Lt. Col. West added that he'll speak out against any Member of Congress who supports a policy to grant a military amnesty.
In his post, Lt. Col. West discussed his military upbringing, and then criticized Pres. Obama for considering a plan to side-step Congress, who hasn't acted on immigration reform, by seeking other ways to legalize illegal aliens.
"[W]e still are a Constitutional Republic, a nation under the rule of law. We have a system of coequal branches of government, checks and balances, and a defined legislative process by which bills are passed — and signed into law by the Executive branch, which is sworn to uphold the law — and that means all laws equally applicable across the country, not by selective enforcement," Lt. Col. West wrote.
Lt. Col. West also referred to other failed attempts throughout history where nations filled their military posts with non-citizens.
"History shows the folly of this approach. When the Roman legions became less comprised of Roman citizens and more of those from anywhere within the Empire, the commitment to Roma Victor lessened. How can we decide to accept an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution from those who have already disregarded this basic law of the land?"
To read Lt. Col. Allen West's full post, see AllenBWest.com.
