Readers React: Some ‘dreamers’ wish for tougher immigration enforcement

To the editor: The Times sometimes refers to those violating our borders as “dreamers.” (“A California ‘Dreamer’ goes home to Mexico. But ‘home’ proves elusive,” Jan. 22)

I am two generations removed from my immigrant grandparents. My wife is a naturalized citizen from Ukraine who was subjected to a thorough background check and medical examination as well as an interview at the American embassy in Kiev.

Arriving in America, she again had to have a medical examination and pass a test to demonstrate she understood our government. Our federal immigration file is a half-inch thick.

So I am also a dreamer. I dream of secure borders and violators who are turned away. I dream that we admit immigrants not to give them a better life, but because they show substantial evidence that they will contribute to a better America. I dream of a process determined by the country’s needs and resources, not the needs of the applicants.

I dream of a sensible and well thought-out policy on immigration that is as written in law, not ignored according to the shifting political climate.

Don Tonty, Los Angeles

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