Keeping a Closer Watch on Our Common Borders

Ruben Martinez wrote a most interesting and poignant story (“The Crossing,” June 25). In my opinion, the existence or nonexistence of the “line” is immaterial. In most border areas around the world, people of adjacent countries flow back and forth within a few miles of their common borders. In these areas, both legitimate and illegitimate activities occur.

What doesn’t occur is a mass of immigrants going from one country to the other. Each country has its border guards and its rules for legal admission. Just because a country’s politicians and businessmen decide to look the other way for a short-term gain doesn’t give illegal immigrants the right to remain in their destination country.

The problems that such mass immigration cause have been well-documented. Then there is the serious problem of very different cultures impacting on each other. Furthermore, what about the tens of millions of other people not living next to the destination country who would like to come to this country but, obviously, are unable to “step across the line”? If they were able to, how could this country accommodate them?

The destination country, if it had the cojones, would count the illegals and, over a period of five to 10 years, send them back home with money and an apology. Their home country, if it too had the cojones, would have to step up and help its returnees, putting in place strong measures to discourage illegal emigration/immigration. No country should be able to dictate to another what its immigration policy is.

Worth Blaney

Palm Desert