Friday, November 30, 2001

Earn This
Bribery not the way to citizenship

In aftermath of Sept. 11, many Americans found themselves engulfed in a storm of anger and fear. The perpetrators of the attacks lived in the United States for years before launching the assault. Their secret well-kept.

Americans demanded increased security, and the government has responded. In continuing the war against terrorism, the United States contrived a new means of tracking terrorists.

The Associated Press reported Thursday that the Justice Department, hoping for improved cooperation, has started a “responsible cooperators program.” The program will provide foreigners a long-term visa that could result in permanent residency or citizenship in return for useful information regarding terrorists.

“The people who have the courage to make the right choice deserve to be welcomed as guests into our country and perhaps to one day become fellow citizens,” Attorney General John Ashcroft said.

This program has taken bribery to a new level.

It must not have been enough to offer monetary awards for information if the United States now feels compelled to offer something that can’t be bought with money.
People who are willing to divulge information about their own people to obtain a chance at American citizenship cannot be the responsible citizens that Ashcroft claims. There are questions to consider when gauging the character of these citizens. How do they have knowledge of potential terrorists? Will they turn on the American citizens?

Terrorists live in our very midst. The All-American neighbor down the block flew an airplane into the World Trade Center. Any information, from any source, obtained in any manner, that would thwart another such attack must be welcomed. Saving American lives demands any means.

But not means of this magnitude. American citizenship, especially in times like these, is something to be cherished. Dangling it like bait to foreigners, including illegal immigrants, who happen to have information is a slap in the face to all American citizens.

The war on domestic terrorism is a tough one, but the United States cannot turn to another wrong to make a right. Citizenship must be earned and not handed out.