Illegal immigration reform poses problems

Re “Immigration reform, again,”

editorial, Sept. 22

Until the conservative right pulls its collective head out of the sand and stops the hysterical hand-wringing and belief that illegals are terrorists or drug smugglers and realize that they cross our borders simply to work in our agricultural fields to pick fruit and vegetables for our consumption, more crops will wither and die on the vines.

We desperately need Congress to preferably pass the Kennedy-McCain bill and the president to sign it into law. Hopefully then the Minutemen and their ilk will go home to their air-conditioned homes and offices and cease their vigilante activities.

Cesar Chavez must be turning over in his grave at the deplorable conditions and needless lost lives in California’s fields.

SUSAN FULLER

Los Angeles

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I believe you are overly optimistic that President Bush could put through an immigration proposal this year of the sort that is to his and your liking. First of all, he has squandered any political capital he might have had on the issue by refusing to engage in even minimal enforcement of the existing immigration laws. Any promise Bush made to start enforcing the law in exchange for legalizing the illegal alien population wouldn’t be worth the paper it was written on.

Second, the voting public is becoming increasingly fed up with illegal immigration, and they’re not buying the sort of “solutions” that you and Bush propose. Any members of Congress who endorse Bush or Sen. John McCain-style “reforms” are going to have a lot to answer for when they come up for reelection.

LANCE B. SJOGREN

San Pedro