Readers React: Immigration court quotas are a useless gimmick, which is why Jeff Sessions imposed them

To the editor: As your editorial posits, Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions puts due process rights at risk by imposing a 700-cases-per-year performance standard on immigration court judges. (“Forcing judges to meet quotas won’t reduce immigration court backlogs. It will undermine due process,” editorial, April 9)

But Sessions sure knows how to please his boss. He’s following the example President Trump set in his executive order requiring federal agencies to scrap two existing regulations for every one adopted.

Such arbitrarily imposed quotas undermine rational decision-making, which is vital to good governance. Governance by goofball gimmickry and cynically contrived sound bites has become the Trump administration’s hallmark.

Edward Alston, Santa Maria

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To the editor: The immigration procedure needs to be streamlined so that more immigrants can enter the U.S. legally.

Eight years ago, I went to the Philippines as a missionary. Four years ago, I married a woman I met there. Intending to move to the United States, she and I put in for a spouse visa, but we learned that was not so easy.

During the four years we waited, we were continually asked new questions about my income and capacity to provide for my wife. Finally, I had to get two additional sponsors to ensure that she would be well provided for.

My wife had to get periodic updates from the Philippines’ National Bureau of Investigation showing that she had not committed any misdemeanors or crimes. She had to attend a seminar to protect herself from exploitation. We had to provide proof that we were really a married couple and together by providing years of photos and receipts from hotels and apartments.

Eventually, she was told that I needed to prove that I had a “domicile” in the U.S., so three months ago, I returned to this country to find a place for us. Now, my wife finally has her visa.

Rowland Lane Anderson, Santa Barbara

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To the editor: Why are we traumatizing American children? I agree immigrants here illegally shouldn’t “butt in line” before those undergoing the arduous and costly application for citizenship, but a civilized nation doesn’t tear parents away from their children for lack of a document.

As a family physician, I can attest to the fact that single-parent (much less zero-parent) households struggle to make ends meet. The children suffer from a sense of isolation and degradation. Sleep disturbance, depression, hunger and anxiety lead to behavioral problems.

The children are our future. Do we want a post-traumatic stress future?

Criminal immigrants with outstanding warrants should be arrested, but the children of immigrant parents should not be punished. The current deportation machine is uncivilized and expensive.

Dorothy Moore, Redondo Beach

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