Some people want illegal aliens to have a total free ride in America. They want illegal aliens to be able to cross the border, walk into public libraries - paid for at great cost by our taxpayer money - and walk out with books, DVD's and other media worth hundreds of dollars with nothing other than a handshake and a promise.
That might have worked well back in the days of Laura Ingalls Wilder of Little House on the Prairie fame, but in this day and age there are too many people who abuse this privilege. I'm not for just handing out cards to Americans these days without proof of identity, but especially for some illegal alien who could be deported the very next day and never return the materials costing taxpayers even more than they already have.
You have people like the one who wrote this editorial in the Journal News who are being pushed around by illegal alien activist groups.
Public libraries in Rockland have been asked to consider changing the rules for getting a library card, because immigration activists say the rule has proven to be onerous for undocumented immigrants .
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The Rockland Immigration Coalition complains that requiring a photo ID to get a library card stops undocumented immigrants from obtaining library cards. That means they can't check out material, or avail themselves of other services the library provides with a card.
How someone can so easily bow to the demands of a group that supports breaking the federal laws of our country and says that taxpayers should "just trust" that media and books bought with taxpayer money will be returned, is beyond me. How about you just hand them your wallet as well since they also say that illegal aliens are mostly poor?
But it's not just someone's opinion. As can be seen below, Francine Fialkoff, Editor-in-Chief of the Library Journal is now comparing the requirements of photo ID to Nazi Germany, implying racism, and to DNA tracking.
And this lady is some sort of educated librarian? Sheesh our standards have fallen.
She points out the way she got a library card as a child (presumably 50 years ago or so) on a wish and a prayer.
When I was a child, you’d walk into the branch library with your class, print your name (or the teacher or librarian would do it for you), and get your card.
... the photo ID requirement smacks too much for my taste of those old World War II movies set in Nazi Europe being shown on TCM, where everyone has to carry around identity cards and produce them on demand. Or of movies like Gattaca, a 1997 flick with Ethan Hawke and Jude Law in which people are tracked by their DNA. In a less harrowing but nonetheless restrictive example, it is common in Latin America to require photo IDs for government services, including libraries.
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I can still walk into a library in New York City without a library card, sign up for one on the spot just by showing a document with my name and address (and they don’t have to be on the same paper), and walk out with books or other media. To sign up online and receive my card by mail, all I have to do is respond affirmatively to the statements, “Do you live, work, attend school, or own property in New York State?” and “I agree to be responsible for all the materials borrowed against my New York Public Library card,” and fill in my name and mailing address.
How nice. So those of us who want to ensure that our tax dollars aren't being wasted on disappearing media and books from the library are Nazi's who want DNA tracking?
I want photo ID requirements for any service that is taxpayer funded. Whether it's checking out hundreds of dollars in library materials or voting in an election. There's just too many cheats and thieves out there these days who will exploit and take advantage of systems that don't hold them responsible.
And especially for illegal aliens. I'll go one further, if an illegal alien is found at a library how about you do your civic duty as a government employee and call your local ICE office so that they can be deported?
Stop trying to make this country friendly to lawbreakers and then soon you'll have no lawbreakers.
Tipped by: Conservator via Tinkerty Tonk
