Opinion: Trump is making ‘good citizens’ live in fear of deportation. That’s unjust.

To the editor: Over the last 40 years, I have become acquainted with hundreds of undocumented immigrants. (“As Trump immigration crackdown comes into focus, anxiety grows along with anger,” Feb. 22)

Nancy was a nurse aide working in a convalescent home caring for patients, always with a smile. Jose was the gardener who worked 8 hours a day in the hospital and, later, for up to six hours with private clients. He sent his three daughters to college. Juan and Maria worked multiple jobs and sent money to their parents in Honduras who were ailing. Pedro was a physician in Nicaragua, came to this country and worked for five years pushing gurneys until he passed all the exams to validate his medical license.

I could go on and on describing the lives of sacrifice and the good citizenship of these non-citizens. And now we will round them up as criminals and deport them under laws that are inhumane and contrary to basic moral values.

Our tears tell the story: We are all immigrants

David S. Cantor, MD, Los Angeles

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To the editor: I think “The New Colossus” poet Emma Lazarus was following the age-old tradition of “comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable,” which is evidenced by her use of the words “wretched refuse” to describe the people on her invitation list.

I agree that it is wrong to discriminate based on factors that a person cannot change about himself, but I think we’re asking for trouble if we do not discriminate against certain types of character.

Those who revere Lazarus are driven by human hardship to attempt to create artificial environments. I can understand how pain and suffering causes some people to theorize idealistic worlds of unconditional equality and then attempt to force such fantasies into reality, but when progressivism evolves into permissiveness, we have a problem.

Arthur G. Saginian, Santa Clarita

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To the editor: The Democrats need to quit fighting congressional battles they don’t have the votes to win and start selectively endorsing GOP crusades in a manner that will impact how Republicans vote in Congress.

Specifically, the Democrats should insist Immigration and Customs Enforcement send lots of agents to California’s Central Valley, home to one of the largest concentrations of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. Squishy Democrats will says that is counter to their efforts to protect undocumented workers from deportation; I say just the opposite.

When undocumented workers flee to avoid deportation, the voices of the Republican farmers, seeing their unpicked crops rotting in the fields, will have a great impact on Congress. The end result will be a carve-out for farm workers.

Michael Ernstoff, Los Angeles

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