Los Angeles’ Role in the Immigration Problem

Re “Immigrant Health Tab Disputed,” May 18: Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who is perhaps the only area politician with any real guts, should be commended for pointing to the primary factor behind the enormous budget deficits in L.A.’s public health-care system, namely, illegal immigration. I disagree, however, that the federal government should pick up the entire bill for illegal immigrants’ health care.

The various governmental entities of Los Angeles have helped create this monster by providing sanctuary, welfare, housing, day-labor centers and other public benefits for illegal immigrants and by discouraging valid police inquiry into immigration status of minor offenders. Local governments here helped create the mess we are in, and they should be responsible for getting us out of trouble without asking the federal government for more money.

Mark A. Mendlovitz

Los Angeles

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L.A. County should model its health-care program after Mexico’s. Their poor people come up to the U.S. to be treated. Mexico doesn’t even need to provide transportation. This system is very cost-efficient.

We could send our poor people who can’t afford health insurance to another country. The only trouble with that idea is that it might be hard to find a country dumb enough to treat our citizens free of charge.

Robert H. Williams

Monterey Park

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Susan Campbell wrote in a May 18 letter about the immigrants who died trapped in a trailer: “If the illegal aliens had just stayed home, they’d all still be alive.” It seems that since Campbell probably was lucky enough to be born in this beautiful country, where opportunities abound, she has no empathy for people who are born in hopeless poverty and are trying desperately to make a better life for themselves and their children.

Sharon Miller Hall

Torrance

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An overcrowded hospital system that is going broke. Overcrowded freeways -- a constant “rush hour.” Overcrowded classrooms, kindergarten through college. A simple solution: Send all illegal residents back to where they come from. Oops, did I offend someone? Illegal is illegal. Wake up, Los Angeles!

Frank Cannon

Torrance