Letter to the Editor: Salem, OR Statesman Journal

Immigration debate is not about racism

August 25, 2007
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pb ... 50305/1050

In his Aug. 20 commentary, Ruben Navarrette Jr. again shows his true agenda, this time through his stalking horse Lionel Sosa, a prominent Hispanic who advocates uniting Mexico and the United States.

Mr. Navarrette continues to ignore the fact that many "nonracist" American citizens are opposed to amnesty for people who have entered this country illegally (something Mr. Navarrette and Mr. Sosa advocate) because any form of amnesty would reward illegal conduct and encourage more illegal conduct; that no matter how loud and how many times the advocates of amnesty cry racism, they will still be wrong.

Mr. Sosa apparently thinks that we need foreign workers. He is wrong. Farmers deprived of immigrant labor can use machines to do the work previously performed by foreign workers.

The bottom line is that we need to enforce our immigration laws whether that requires cement and barbed wire, universal identity cards, significant penalties against employers who employ illegal aliens or all three.

An earlier article in the newspaper suggests that increased border enforcement and the reluctance of some employers to continue to employ illegals has resulted in decreased illegal entry into this country and possibly "self deportation." Those are both "nonracist" good things.

-- Peter M. Appleton, Salem