While overwhelming numbers of homeless Americans in every major city across our nation live on the street, in their cars, under bridges, and tents, our government has no plan to manage the thousands of migrants flooding across the U.S.-Mexico border from all over the world.
We don’t know who is coming into our country, and the drug cartels are in charge. Has the leadership in Washington, D.C., lost its way? Is the acquisition of wealth and the lust for political power, at any cost, more important to politicians in Washington, D.C., than the safety and well-being of American citizens?
People worldwide want to come to America because they know they will have the opportunity to prosper and live the American dream. But without border security and intelligent leadership, our country and the safety and well-being of Americans are at risk.
After working in the human services field for decades in child protection and addiction recovery, I must say that even during times of prosperity, our country’s efforts to develop effective human services were not well conceived, such as the closing of Maine state psychiatric hospitals that began in the 1960s. So today, we see thousands of Americans needing treatment for mental illnesses, barely able to care for themselves, living on the street, or incarcerated.
That said, I can’t stop thinking about where the caravans of migrants will sleep. How can we afford to provide them with welfare, food, medicine, and education? Has the American dream become a political nightmare that will destroy our economy and America as we know it? I can’t help but feel angry and betrayed by our government when I see photographs of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers being overwhelmed by caravans of migrants. Is our national security at risk? Has our government lost its mind? Or, is our government’s failure to take action on our southern border purposeful? What can Americans do to keep our great nation from being changed forever? Will the country we love dearly, the land of the free and home of the brave, never be the same again?
Gary Chapin
Rockland, ME
