Buried in the sports section of the Sun Journal on March 27 was the story of two brilliant state legislators who have introduced a bill, LD 1195, to allow non-citizens to vote in local elections. I protest. Opening this door could allow clusters of aliens to take over a local area if they were so inclined.

The comment was that some citizens come here for a year or so, vote and leave for other places, but that many immigrants can live here for decades and never get to vote.

There is the basic constitutional flaw in proponents’ thinking. Immigrants must become citizens of this country in order to earn the right to vote. Voters must be citizens.

More importantly, I feel that immigrant status should have a time limit on it – say 10 years. If, after 10 years, an immigrant has not pursued citizenship, then that person has made a statement of allegiance that says he is still a citizen of a foreign country, and he should be forced to return there because all he has done is taken exile for 10 years. He is still tied to the nation he came from.

So, if immigrants want to live here permanently, they should become citizens. Learn the language, the history and responsibilities of being a citizen, and do it before they can become a voter.

We should not lower our country’s standards to accommodate the pro-socialists’ movement.

Elbert Derick, Wales