Thread: Reaction To Last Sunday's Sympathy N&O Article

http://www.newsobserver.com/580/story/557218.html

From Letters to the Editor:

When illegal immigrants are arrested, what of their families?
Lawbreakers, period

Regarding the March 20 news story, "Good job, good life, all gone":

Why would The News & Observer publish an article that was intended to make U.S. citizens feel guilty for our government taking action and arresting law breakers? We should not feel the least bit sorry for the families of the illegal immigrants who were arrested in the Tar Heel raids. If they want to avoid being arrested and deported, I suggest that they take steps to become legal United States citizens.

The family highlighted in the article has been here nine years, which is plenty of time to apply for citizenship. That family is breaking the law, period. When can we expect an article in The N&O about the plight of drug dealers and their families after the primary income earner is arrested and taken to jail?

I applaud the efforts of our government in finally attempting to curb illegal immigration and hope to see more of the same in the future.

Steve Condit

Angier

The law is the law

Thanks to the March 20 N&O article on the consequences faced by spouses and children of deported illegal immigrants, we are reminded that living and working in the U.S. without citizenship is just that -- illegal. You made it clear from the very first sentence that such behavior is a crime, and even described the actions of the deported husband in realistically negative terms (i.e., "paid a smuggler," "secured a fraudulent birth certificate and Social Security number").

While all sensitive human beings can feel empathy for others who are trying to escape squalid conditions in order to provide a better life for themselves and their families, immigration laws must be enforced unless they are eradicated altogether. If laws can be set aside for those struggling in poverty, why not let impoverished Americans commit fraud and/or robbery to gain more income?

It's hard to imagine a society in which robbing banks would be excused just because you have 12 people living in a two-room house, and you need the extra cash. As ridiculous as that scenario sounds, what's the difference?

Marlene Clegg

Cary

Who goes first?

In your March 20 front-page article on increased law enforcement activity to root out illegal immigrants, you stated, "Immigrant advocates argue that it's unfair to target workers seemingly selected at random from a pool of 12 million people who live in the United States illegally."

How would these advocates propose targeting illegal immigrants fairly, we might ask -- by lottery? In alphabetical order? By choosing singles first, then married couples, and finally those with children? Perhaps by soliciting volunteers?

Mark E. Sullivan

Raleigh

Blind eyes, cold hearts

The lack of compassion and overabundance of hypocrisy that surrounds the current immigration and undocumented worker debate stuns me.

In your March 20 article "Good job, good life, all gone," Mark Krikorian, director of the Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies says, that "Living in a dysfunctional Third World society is not an excuse for sneaking into the United States."

Now that's cold! For how many years has it been convenient for us to turn a blind eye to the hundreds of thousands of undocumented workers in the U.S. who have built our roads, cleaned our houses, cooked our food and cut our lawns? For how much longer will we deny that U.S. trade policies are at least in part responsible for the overwhelming migration from Mexico and Central America? For whom will our hearts break if not for the immigrant families whose lives are torn apart and loved ones hauled away to detention facilities without even a goodbye kiss?

What happens to undocumented workers and their families affects all of us in some way or another and will forever define us as a nation.

Carol C. Derrenbacher

Wake Forest

Their number's up

Regarding the March 20 news story "Good job, good life, all gone":

It is sad that the advocates of illegal immigrants are troubled over the recent arbitrary selection and jailing of a large group of their number. Maybe the fairest way would be to have all 12 million of them sign up for a federal lottery, so that the government could then "fairly" select 100,000 per month for deportation.

Albert Cinquepalma

Cary

Those other sufferers

Your March 20 story on illegal immigrants being deported leaves mixed feelings.

It's always heart-rending to see children suffer for the crimes of their parents. However, I don't remember seeing this type of plea for the children of drug dealers or other criminals.

Why don't you publish a series of articles on the children, families and friends of those killed or maimed by illegal immigrants driving intoxicated? Guess what? They suffer, too.

Luke Steele

Creedmoor

A needed crackdown

Regarding the March 20 news story, "Good job, good life, all gone":

Your article intended to "offer a fuller picture of how the federal crackdown is playing out in the lives of people who immigrated illegally." Perhaps this story would have been better positioned in the Life, etc. section instead of the front page.

It may make people feel uncomfortable to read about families in which one of the parents has been arrested and subsequently deported, or to hear of mothers and children storing their clothes in garbage bags. Let us not forget that these people were living in our country illegally to begin with, possessing false birth certificates, phony Social Security numbers and using an alias.

Additionally, your article references "immigration advocates" who believe it is unfair to target individuals. This sounds like a belief of an illegal immigration advocate -- not an immigration advocate. I am an immigration advocate -- for those who come to our country the legal way.

I applaud the federal crackdown. I would recommend furthering these efforts by freezing the assets that illegal immigrants send across our borders and reclaiming that money for the United States -- money that was earned illegally and under false pretenses.

James Howaniec

Fuquay-Varina

I'm glad to see that only one of the letters regarding this article supported the illegal immigrant families, while the rest were for deportation!

I'm so happy to see a newspaper supporting the views of most Americans for a change!!

TexasGal

We definitly need more support for law enforcement!!! encourgement goes along way!!!

it been convenient for us to turn a blind eye to the hundreds of thousands of undocumented workers in the U.S. who have built our roads, cleaned our houses, cooked our food and cut our lawns?

Once again, there's that condenscending attitude of "don't take away our slaves"......Can you imagine the uproar if this was said about another group. You never hear much about the Asian illegals because they are quietly sitting in a classroom somewhere trying to keep a low profile and make a success out of themselves while working two jobs. We have the largest Kurdish population in Nashville of anywhere in the country and you never hear anything about them. You would never know they were here, but it's a constant barrage of Hispanic this and that. It never ends! It's the belief that the U.S. OWES THEM SOMETHING. They come here with an ENTITLEMENT ATTTITUDE. Polls say 58% of them have a negative view of the U.S., but our Congressional idiots act like giving them citizenship will make them the best people in the world. NOTHING is ever said about the LEGAL immigrants and what they think or contribute.....it's ALWAYS about how the illegals are hardworking and being oppressed.

Here's my favorite of the four:

The law is the law

Thanks to the March 20 N&O article on the consequences faced by spouses and children of deported illegal immigrants, we are reminded that living and working in the U.S. without citizenship is just that -- illegal. You made it clear from the very first sentence that such behavior is a crime, and even described the actions of the deported husband in realistically negative terms (i.e., "paid a smuggler," "secured a fraudulent birth certificate and Social Security number").

While all sensitive human beings can feel empathy for others who are trying to escape squalid conditions in order to provide a better life for themselves and their families, immigration laws must be enforced unless they are eradicated altogether. If laws can be set aside for those struggling in poverty, why not let impoverished Americans commit fraud and/or robbery to gain more income?

It's hard to imagine a society in which robbing banks would be excused just because you have 12 people living in a two-room house, and you need the extra cash. As ridiculous as that scenario sounds, what's the difference?

Marlene Clegg

Cary

Texasgal wrote:

I'm so happy to see a newspaper supporting the views of most Americans for a change!!

Don't let the "exception" confuse you. The N&O is a liberal rag and is all for legalizing the 20-30 million criminal aliens residing in this country.

The only people that support illegal immigration are the ones that really don't understand the consequesnces of it. I can't wait until they march again this spring, and we have even more support.

Communists are people who read Marx. Anti-Communists are the ones who UNDERSTAND Marx......Ronald Reagan

This kinda applies to illegal immigration. People who understand the consequences are against it. People who read the "GUT BILL" like it. People who UNDERSTAND the bill are opposed!