Let Migrants Enter to Fill Jobs

Re “White House Retreats From Amnesty Idea,” July 17: What a destructive signal to put out there: Break the law and wait for the U.S. to grant amnesty. This is what encourages unemployed Mexican citizens to risk their lives in dangerous, illegal border crossings; forces them to live like fugitives dodging the immigration man; to work for slave wages, without benefits, exploited by employers because there’s no recourse.

Let’s alleviate the problem for Mexican citizens who need work and for American employers who need their services. Let Mexicans cross the border legally, safely and with dignity. Any society should welcome the family and social values and the work ethic of Mexican and other Hispanic people with open arms. If we open our border to numbers sufficient to fill the jobs that go begging here, it removes the motivation for illegal entry.

Don Bustany

Los Angeles

Michael Scott of Glendora (letter, July 17) wrote: “There are no empirical, moral or patriotic imperatives for allowing millions of uneducated and unskilled immigrants to remain in the high-tech U.S.” I agree wholeheartedly. But there are factors that Scott failed to mention. When was the last time you saw U.S. citizens picking fruits and vegetables and doing backbreaking farm labor? For all those who are now receiving Social Security benefits and those who are about to retire, what do you think will happen to your monthly checks if illegal aliens were forced to stop working tomorrow? They pump money into the system, and they will never receive the benefits. Mexico has failed miserably to provide education, jobs and opportunities. If we were to seal up the borders, we could expect turmoil. When fighting erupted, we would be forced to accept the refugees as they stormed over the border.

Some of us have failed to deal with the reality of illegal immigration, so the reality is dealing with us.

Henry Sakaida

Temple City

As an 82-year-old native Californian, I am appalled at the decline of our state in the past 10 years. The flood of illegal immigrants has burdened our bountiful resources. Water, power, schools, crime prevention and welfare programs are strained to the breaking point, and amnesty for all the illegals would be the last straw for our economy. If we must take care of these illegals, then the best solution would be through a guest worker program so we can keep some semblance of control and order.

Peter Arth

Redlands

The proposal to grant amnesty to undocumented immigrants, which was publicly supported by Mexico’s President Vicente Fox, brought to mind the incident of Americans being forced to give up homes in Mexico that they had thought to be theirs for life. Doesn’t it seem reasonable that some sort of reciprocal concession on the part of the Mexican government should be made requisite?

Paul Kneipp

Tarzana