Letters: Unsafe at the border

Re “A hostile homecoming,” Sept. 9

I was shocked to read of the perilous plight of U.S. deportees being returned to Mexico. Even if it is the responsibility of Mexican authorities to oversee the safety of their repatriated citizens, it is immoral for the United States to choose a port of return known to pose extreme danger for migrants.

The strategy of returning illegal immigrants to a remote area of Mexico to make reentry more difficult does not justify delivering the deportees into the arms of brutal gangs — that is, unless the real plan is to discourage immigrants from returning by using “termination with extreme prejudice.”

Vivienne O’Brien

Los Angeles

My friend waited years to enter the U.S. legally. He worked hard, earned a doctorate and teaches human anatomy and political science. My relatives fled Nazi persecution, and my foreign-born brother waited until age 18 to become a citizen. My other relative still waits for a visa.

And the subjects of your article?

They illegally entered the U.S., work without the legal right to do so and drive without licenses while intoxicated. Then, when they’re deported, they cry about family separation and the dangerous life in Mexico.

Your melodramatic story reeks of “pity us.”

Get real: Criminals get deported.

Elize Campo

Ventura

Once again The Times regales readers with one of its regular stories on the tribulations of illegal

immigrants. This time it’s the inconvenience of illegal immigrants getting to their hometown from the Mexican border after being deported by the U.S. for breaking the law here.

To avoid assaults by gangs, illegal immigrants should be flown instead to Mexico City. Their families or the Mexican government could pick up the cost. Any family members here could safely accompany them home and they could remain together as a family unit.

Ron Nelson

Venice

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