Can’t we build schools in Mexico?

Re “ ‘Domestic tranquillity,’ ” editorial, Dec. 26

The Times writes: “And here’s a proposal we would welcome: federal assistance for states educating the majority of the nation’s illegal immigrants. Education can lift a poor person into prosperity; the government owes its people this chance to raise themselves.”

“Its people”? Which government? Whose responsibility? It is true that our problem is national and its effects are local, and it is important that we educate the children of illegal immigrants for our own self-interest and “domestic tranquillity.” But the responsibility still lies with the countries of origin. Perhaps we should help build schools in Chihuahua so Mexico can generate a middle class that will help lift it out of its Third World status.

W.L. Sibley

Northridge