Readers React: Poor medical care is a problem for everyone. Using it to bash ICE is unfair

To the editor: I’m troubled by the anecdotal depiction of such a complex problem as medical care for immigrants in federal custody.

As a physician who has practiced in both federal and county medical centers, I too can recall countless similar stories of medication lapses and incorrect treatments, many caused by physicians working to provide a “proper standard of care.” I can also recall managing the care of countless immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally — often untreated, advanced in their pathologies and non-English speaking — in already crowded hospitals.

Despite being underfunded and a political scapegoat for the left, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to protect our communities from the most dangerous immigrants who are here illegally. No one is perfect, but in this scenario, one group is clearly part of a problem while the other is at least part of the solution.

Michael Kendall, M.D., Azusa

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To the editor: In reading one article about the substandard care given to immigrants in ICE custody, and another in the same print edition on the plight of homeless college students living in their cars, does one not realize our economy’s resources are already overextended?

Frequently citizens who do not support California’s sanctuary state policy are unthinkingly referred to as racist, but to quote James Carville, it’s the economy, stupid. A country can only be as strong as its weakest link.

Diane McDowell, Los Angeles

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