Latino Immigrants

I agree with Robert A. Jones’ Feb. 14 essay about too much immigration into our state. When I first came to Los Angeles in the 1950s, I started a column, Pan-American Panorama, for various Eastside weeklies. Practically all Latinos that I met then spoke English and not much Spanish. Now it is just the opposite.

The main reason for this was the 1986 federal legalization of some 3 million illegal aliens, mostly from Latino countries. These people were invariably poorly educated and with few job skills.

Our country made a big mistake by favoring and allowing “family reunification,” which now forms a major part of legal immigrants coming into this country and adds to the problem because these people are also poor and badly educated like their “sponsoring families,” the former illegals.

Our immigrant policy should emphasize education and technical skills and not “family reunification.”

JOHN F. MENDEZ

Los Angeles

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As an American-born woman whose father was born in Mexico, I found the recent article regarding Mexican nationals in Los Angeles wishing to vote in Mexico’s general election noteworthy.

Hispanic people are migrating and procreating at a rate far exceeding any other ethnic group, and are challenging the social systems which are in place for all of us to utilize only when more responsible options are exhausted.

Leaders in the Hispanic community must realize and address real problems existing in their communities here, not redirect valuable energy, time and attention to the land which they have left behind.

Only when the Hispanic leadership and citizens are willing to declare America their homeland and do everything in their power to add to the greatness of the most incredible democracy the world has ever known will their dreams for themselves and their children be fully realized.

M. K. VILLAREAL

Lake Forest