The American Legion Magazine (Aug. 2024) devoted two pages to the “border crisis,” stating: “The American Legion stands firm: Secure the borders.”
Conspicuously missing from the article: Congress DID frame a bipartisan bill addressing well-known border problems but former President Trump instructed his devotees in Congress not to let it pass. Oversight by the American Legion… (?), hardly. They correctly conclude: “This is a national problem requiring bi-partisan solutions and actions by our Congress, president and governors.”
The Biden Administration has endlessly (and wrongly) been accused of opening borders to every person on the planet, giving them iPhones, credit cards, transportation to cities of their choice, hotel rooms, food, medical, education, even Social Security. It’s claimed “veterans have been pushed aside while illegals get top notch medical care.”
Veterans have a right to know whether VA [Veterans Administration] resources are being diverted to illegal immigrants and the American Legion did, emphatically, refute those lies. “Do illegal immigrants receive VA health care (?), No.”
VA claims agents process claims on behalf of other federal agencies. This includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which has a contract with the VA Financial Services Center (FSC) to process medical claims. However, the agency doesn’t incur any costs for the claims that come from the ICE program.
According to VA Press Secretary Terrence Hayes, “No resources meant for veterans are used as part of this agreement. FSC provides administrative functions for ICE, using ICE funds, having zero impact on veterans’ healthcare or benefits.”
I passionately believe that veterans’ organizations should feel duty-bound to speak to these outrageous lies and, unashamedly, reveal the sources of these lies.
We are but days away from an election that could alter the course of history, determining whether our Republic remains or is unceremoniously tossed upon the ash heap of antiquity alongside other great civilizations that withered and perished from within.
My generation will soon be gone from this earth. We will die comforted by the knowledge our fathers risked their lives preserving freedom around the globe and so that we could live in a world where character and truth matter, and in a country that symbolizes enduring hope and provides an unending haven for all who seek peace and friendship.
This in contrast to those who choose to idolize and support a lying, racist, xenophobic, climate-change denying, twice-impeached, narcissistic conman, convicted felon and tyrant, an unprincipled man who incited an armed attack on his own Capitol in an attempt to overturn an election he knew he’d lost.
This former president has chosen for his running mate a self-described “never Trumper,” a man who once believed Trump “unhinged, toxic, cultural heroin,” and whose policies range from “immoral to absurd,” a man who once opined, “Trump could become America’s Hitler.”
Donald Trump is unquestionably a threat to our national security, world peace, and stability. Every clear-thinking, right-minded, sensible American voter must recognize Donald Trump and J.D. Vance plainly unfit to lead our nation.
David L. Snell, Franklin