Defining the Term ‘Alien’

With regard to letters by Lorraine, Rodriguez and Yaotl on the term “illegal alien” (Times Valley Edition Letters to the Editor, Jan. 10), it is time to quit clinging to the past and accept the present.

From the beginning of Christendom and into the 19th Century, greedy, ruthless, enterprising nomads, monarchs and assorted rulers invaded lands, and with each conquest displaced indigenous peoples. That’s the recorded history of the world, and how boundaries evolved into what they are today, like it or not.

If your ancestors were indigenous to America, they were long ago displaced. Accept it, because that’s the reality. And if you are not an American citizen but entered the country illegally, you are an illegal alien. It’s that simple.

TONI (GARCIA) DUNCAN

Hidden Hills