Illegals get preferential treatment Thursday, May 12, 2005
It is frustrating and disheartening to read this article about illegal immigrants ("Undocumented and under siege," May 10).
I came to this country from the Philippines as a legal immigrant in 1984. I followed the U.S. immigration laws and therefore was admitted to this country in a legal way.
My brothers and sisters have been on the waiting list for the last 13 years and their visas are still in limbo. My dad passed away without fulfilling his only wish, which was to see my siblings visit America.
Why is it that there is preferential treatment for the illegals? Why is it that other illegal acts in this country are punishable by imprisonment or heavy fines but this does not apply to individuals entering the United States illegally?
I am not a hard-hearted person, but I trust our government to uphold laws and apply them equally to all the people in this country, with no exceptions.
JESSICA CURRY Beaverton
Try this in Mexico
I found Tuesday's front-page headline, "Undocumented and under siege," very offensive. You make it sound as if someone merely forgot to fill out some paperwork.
They are illegal immigrants. Try going to Mexico illegally and telling the government what rights and benefits you are entitled to have.
Many people maintain that illegals do the work U.S. citizens won't perform. There is an easy solution for that: Do away with our welfare system. Go back to the times when your family, friends and church cared for you. It was a great incentive to be the type of person whom others would like to help.
Given the choice to work or not survive, many healthy, able people might choose a different lifestyle.
DON WRIGHT Newberg
Racism the driving force
Surely, reporter Michelle Cole cannot be so naive and so disrespectful of the intelligence of your readership to write, "The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the nation's renewed interest in border security" are driving the debate over immigration ("Undocumented and under siege," May 10).
Racism is the driving force in this argument, as proved by Jim Ludwick's concerns about his precious space "to hunt and fish, shoot a shotgun or walk without a crowd around (him)," as if hard-working, undocumented workers are interfering with his leisure activities.
We should not forget that not only Idaho, but Oregon, too, has a particularly troublesome racist and exclusionary past.
The term for undocumented workers should be reverted to the unpleasant "WOP" to remind white Americans just how many Europeans arrived in this country "without papers," seeking a better life.
JOHN S. ANDERSON Northwest Portland