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Extend compassion: Many lives worse than Mexicans'

December 29, 2006
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I understand a pastor's sympathy for the downtrodden (in his eyes), but with all due respect, he's missing the facts ("Pastor Urges Compassion After Swift Raid," Marc Hansen, Dec. 19 column).

Surveys show many illegals had jobs to pay for the bribes and fees to their countrymen and government to cross the border. However, 25 million Americans do not have jobs, including 40 percent of black males.

Real income is dropping for most citizens. Americans indeed do dirty, dangerous work (farming and mining are among the most hazardous).

If compassion is the trump card, how about the 80 percent of the world's population that has a smaller average income than that of the average Mexican national?

Or the nations where starvation is a semi-permanent scourge? Give them a job. Why siphon the very people who might turn Mexico and other South American nations into true democracies without all the graft and corruption?

The late Cesar Chavez, founder of the farm workers' union, warned of the effects of illegal immigration: lower wages, substandard conditions, etc., on both sides of the border.

Not to mention that illegals are not screened for disease, criminal history or contraband.

Try sneaking into Mexico, pastor. The laws there are very harsh for illegals (making it a good place for many immigration attorneys to seek real work).

- Gerald A. Edgar,

Garner.