Readers React: Illegal immigrants do Californians no favors

To the editor: That 10% of the California workforce is made of up immigrants who are here illegally is itself appalling, but for the researchers at USC to state that they contribute $130 billion annually to the California economy is absurd. (“Immigrants illegally in California comprise nearly 10% of workforce,” Sept. 3)

How about the legal residents of California who can’t get employment because immigrants take the jobs at very low wages? The only people benefiting from this are the illegal immigrants and their employers.

As all naturalized Americans have gone through the process of obtaining citizenship, trying to bolster the status of illegal immigrants by stating that they are great for the economy sounds very self-serving.

If anything, we need to crack down on the employers of the illegal immigrants. That would reduce the illegal immigrant population.

Bruce Kulmer, Mission Viejo

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To the editor: I was startled when I turned the page and saw a jump headline that said, “Migrants help economy.” Tell that to the more than 1 million unemployed Californians.

And what kind of economy will California have if it runs out of water? The earnings that illegal immigrants add to the economy go right back to them, but immigrants’ consumption of resources impacts everyone.

This year’s economy means nothing to our children and grandchildren who cannot flourish unless California reduces its population to a sustainable level. Uncontrolled immigration makes that impossible.

Kenneth Pasternack, Santa Barbara

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