Letters to the Editor: Legality matters less and less in increasingly aggressive immigration enforcement

To the editor: In Monday’s Los Angeles Times, a letter writer asserted that her Latino housekeeper and gardener aren’t afraid of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids because they came here legally (“Letters to the Editor: Two readers disagree over claims of racial profiling in ICE raids,” June 27).

In the same issue, there was a story about a Korean-born man who also came here legally and is a U.S. citizen (“L.A. Army veteran with Purple Heart self-deports to South Korea under threat of deportation,” June 27). He deported himself because he was under threat of deportation due to nearly 20-year-old drug convictions.

No doubt the letter writer would point out that her housekeeper and gardener haven’t broken any laws. But that misses the point.

The point is that in the current climate, if someone in authority decides that they want your housekeeper or gardener or you out of the country, they’ll find a way to do it.

Grinnell Almy, Los Angeles

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To the editor: OK, I confess that my ancestors were illegal immigrants. They squatted here without permission on land that was not their own. They brought deadly diseases the locals had never seen before. They claimed to be refugees, but never registered with anyone, never got a green card and absolutely refused to leave.

When did they come? In 1620 on the Mayflower. Gee, maybe I should self-deport. I hear England’s nice this time of year.

Katharine Waitman, Los Angeles