Dealing With Amnesty Law

I am writing this letter because I feel that I have some important things to say. First of all, I would like to tell you a little about my background. I was born in Mexico City. My family moved to the United States in 1973. We came the usual way that many Mexican families come--through the mountains.

In school we were treated as normal children. I first learned Spanish then later on I learned English. What I am getting to is the Immigration Reform Act.

My family is, I think, one of the fortunate ones. My mother, father, brother and I have qualified for the amnesty program. It is like a dream come true. I still remember my mother telling us everyday before going to school to be careful of men who could be from the immigration service and who would force us to return to Mexico. To me, that was like a black cloud over my family. It made me feel like we were criminals. I know that in the eyes of the United States we were breaking the law. Now it’s like coming out of the dark and into society. As I said before, we are fortunate.

What about those who have left their countries because of the wars going on there? Why shouldn’t the United States be responsible for them when it is sending arms and ammunition to those countries?

I think the next President should end the aid to the Nicaraguan Contras because if the United States continues to send arms to the Contras all it is going to achieve is more refugees and more hatred from Central America.

MARIA LUISA IBARRA

Inglewood