Letter to Editor: Dublin Should Not Be A Sanctuary City, Resident Says

Dear Editor:

This is my personal story of how my family of immigrants has taught me the value of our country’s precious laws. My great-grandfather, in his early 50's, came to America to escape Communism. He was a good and decent man. He owned several bakeries in his home town and at times if someone poor came in, he would give them something to eat, free of charge. When Communism took hold, they would drag him out of his store and bash his knees and shins with batons.

My great-grandfather knew that if he stayed in a Communist country his future generations would not have a decent life. So he made the long grueling trek to America in hopes to obtain citizenship, which at the time was extremely difficult.

He had a wife, 3 sons, 1 daughter, and 8 grandchildren. One of those grandsons would eventually be my father. As my great-grandfather became a U.S. citizen he was able to file paperwork to bring his family over. He dreamed of reuniting his family in a land where they could start over, build a better life, and keep it. He would never see his family in person again and died alone.

Why? Because his family went through the immigration process legally, waited to come over and refused to break the law. By the time his family made it the shores of Hawaii, my great-grandfather had already passed away.

Thanks to my great-grandfather's determination, work ethic, and sacrifice, at a time when he should be nearing retirement, my parents, siblings, and now our young families have a life that my great-grandfather always dreamed about. My great-grandfather's story is not unique as many of my friends; families share a similar journey. I suspect that many who are reading this can relate all too well.

Ninety percent of my friends and family are only one generation removed from those who immigrated to America, yet not a single one agrees with illegal immigration or support sanctuary cities. At first this really surprised me; surely my family would be angry that our legal process took so long that they never got a chance to see my great-grandfather before he passed.

So why do they not support illegal immigration? Because they came here to escape lands without laws and here we are slowly turning America into the same lawless land they sacrificed so much to escape.

Being born into this great land, I fully admit I have taken our laws for granted. I have never lived a day where I wasn’t protected by laws. My family and all those millions of immigrants who came here the right way did so at a high cost, but that cost was still lower than living in a lawless land.

Immigrants taught me, an American-born citizen, the value of following the laws of the land. They taught me that if we begin the slippery slope of deciding which laws to follow and which to ignore, then we are recreating a land that they risked everything to escape.

On February 7, 2017 there was a measure brought before Dublin City Council to declare Dublin a sanctuary city. Dublin is already a diverse, close-knit family- oriented community; with both legal and illegal immigrants working and supporting one another every day.

This sanctuary city measure attempts to address a non-existent issue but will create very real safety and financial issues that will have long reaching negative impacts to the citizens and legal immigrants in Dublin; a city that is already bursting at the seams, struggling with over-crowding, and finding funds for critical services and infrastructure improvements.

Please sign and share this petition to let the Dublin City Council know that we should continue to uphold existing immigration laws and that Dublin should not be a sanctuary city. Click here to view the petition.

Alvin Lui, Dublin resident

Photo courtesy Jay Auldridge