County Bill for Immigrants

As a councilman in the City of West Hollywood, which passed the sanctuary ordinance that was the predecessor to Los Angeles City’s, and as the son of immigrant refugee parents. I take exception to Schabarum’s article, “The County Is Stuck With Bill for Immigrants.”

Yes, it is true that political refugees are a burden on the finances of Los Angeles County, but I don’t agree that a dollar value can be placed on people’s lives. Refusal to protect these individuals from possible imprisonment, torture, or execution is not an acceptable alternative.

It is this kind of attitude that kept hundreds of thousands of Jews from being given political sanctuary in our country during the Holocaust of World War II. The ethnicities have changed, but the problem remains the same. Granting sanctuary is not the fiscally conservative option to take, and some taxpayers may be upset. But it is the right thing to do.

ALAN VITERBI

West Hollywood