‘Innocent Victims’ of Immigration Law

Misconception of our immigration laws is abundant. A Jan. 22 letter writer who declared that those smart enough to be accepted to our universities should be smart enough to take the citizenship test is unaware that such students would gladly comply, but they are not entitled to do so. Securing legal status in the U.S. is a complex and protracted process, usually based on specialized skills, shortages in occupations or close family relatives who are U.S. citizens.

Most of the young adults seeking to enter our universities were brought here as children and have grown up in this country. They had no voice in their parents’ decision to bring them to the U.S. illegally and know no other culture or country. They are innocent victims who now find themselves strangers in a place they have considered their home. They are faced with the death of their hopes for higher education and an exit from the poverty they have endured. Providing them the opportunity to attend our university at resident rates is nothing more than a humanitarian effort to incorporate them into our society. Even after attaining a university degree they will have to find a way to legalize their immigration status.

Aggie R. Hoffman

Studio City

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Gubernatorial candidate Richard Riordan says illegal aliens have a “God-given right” to be educated and medicated at taxpayers’ expense (Jan. 23). This is an idiotic position. The truth is that U.S. citizens owe nothing to illegal aliens.

If our country is to avoid internal violence and remain independent, united, free and sovereign, the rule of law must be followed, and that includes the immigration laws.

Larry Brown

Riverside