Irritated Over Housing Project

“Residents Protest Housing Official’s Ouster” in The Times’ Valley Edition Feb. 29 caught my eye, a perfect example of why so many Americans have become cynical and disillusioned with their own country.

The San Fernando Gardens housing project of 2,000 people is a “low-income apartment complex”--which means that it is partially supported by taxpayers. According to the sign carried in the picture, it is 92% Latinos and 80% “NO Hablan INGLES.” They want an interpreter.

If 80% of around 2,000 people do not speak English, are they illegal aliens? If so, why are we supplying even “low-cost” housing for them instead of deporting them? Affordable housing is in short supply, and they are also costing taxpayers free education and free health care, both enormously expensive; the tired old story that they pay their way in taxes isn’t true when these are included.

If they are amnestied, why haven’t they learned English in the years they’ve lived here before being eligible for amnesty? Surely the first thing one would want to do, in moving to a new country, is to learn to speak the language.

If they are citizens, they are required to speak and understand English; if they still need interpreters, our testing standards for citizenship are a mockery. There must be many thousands of Americans of many origins, including Hispanic, who would be grateful for low-cost, sometimes three-bedroom housing, without requiring a salaried interpreter.

MARY JOHNSON, Woodland Hills