Opinion: New immigration plan: ‘Give me your rich, your white, your English speakers, yearning to earn more?’

To the editor: I predict that Trump will soon announce the establishment of the Trump Language Academy, schools around the world to help potential immigrants improve their English, located in Trump hotels. Tuition will include lodging at the hotels. (“Trump backs tough border limits,” Business, Aug. 3)

Textbooks (including “The Art of the Deal”), educational technology and English tests will be provided by the Trump Language Academy.

Tiffany Trump will serve as academic director.

All prospective immigrants must pass the official Trump English Language Examination. The examination will not cover spelling.

Stephen Krashen, Los Angeles

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To the editor: I had to memorize Emma Lazarus’ “The New Colossus” as a schoolchild and learned about the role our country played in welcoming immigrants from places not as fortunate or free as America.

I can’t help but wonder if we will be changing these words on the Statue of Liberty from the original to something that reflects our new policy recommendation on immigration.

Instead of the verse I learned, might I suggest: “Give me your rich, your white, your English speakers, yearning to earn more. The wealthy nobility of other lands. Send these, the one percent, from a distant shore. I lift my lamp so only those with gold may use our door.”

Or, we could just move Lady Liberty to Canada.

Michele Britton Bass, Santa Barbara

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To the editor: Wouldn’t it be interesting to know if Donald Trump’s grandfather, Friedrich, spoke English when he emigrated to the United States from Germany?

Leslie Sievers, Irvine

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To the editor: One wonders how many of the immigrant ancestors of current Americans would qualify under Trump’s proposed new criteria.

Mine probably wouldn’t, and I know my husband’s parents, who came from the Netherlands, would never have been admitted. His father was a baker and his mother an orthopedic nurse, and neither spoke a word of English when they arrived in 1929. They worked hard, and today their descendants include four successful business owners, who have employed hundreds of people, three college graduates and one Air Force member.

I guess these are the kind of people he thinks we don’t need. Would Trump’s immigrant ancestors qualify?

Judy Reinsma, Santa Clarita

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To the editor: I began my high school teaching career in the 1970s when the Vietnamese boat people started to arrive. Many enrolled in the district where I worked.

I doubt many would have earned enough points to enter our country under the president’s new immigration plan. After all, they were poor, uneducated and didn’t speak English, yet they ended up being outstanding students. Most went on to college and into well-respected professions. Our country is richer because of them.

The president is playing one group against another — immigrants versus lower-skilled Americans — and that is unfortunate.

Marlin Sobbota, Arcadia

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