Readers React: China’s birthrate during the year of the sheep

To the editor: Why is it a bad sign that China may be about to experience a decline in birth rate due to a superstition about babies being born in the year of the sheep? (“For China’s birthrate, this may be a bad sign,” Jan. 19)

Humans are driving themselves into oblivion by overpopulation and all the negative consequences it entails. Any trend toward reversing the world’s unsustainable population should be heralded as a good sign.

Also troubling is the part of this article that describes a Chinese business practice of helping women to travel here to have their babies and take advantage of our misguided law that says anyone born here is an automatic citizen. I assume this helps the parents get an advantage in their citizenship.

Mark O’Connell, Irvine

..

To the editor: Pregnant Chinese women fly to the U.S. to give birth here as a way to secure citizenship for their newborns.

Does anyone else see something wrong with this picture?

I bet the framers of the 14th Amendment never had this in mind. Does anyone else detect an obscenity being directed at the face of America?

In addition to strict enforcement of our borders (I’m a Democrat), perhaps we can get Republicans on board to support comprehensive immigration reform if we require both parents to be legal residents of the U.S. before citizenship is bestowed upon babies born here.

Josef Colman, Santa Monica

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion