Readers React: How ‘birthright citizenship’ saved one family from the Nazis

To the editor: Here’s another perspective on the law that grants citizenship to babies born in the U.S. of foreign parents. (“The loaded term ‘anchor baby’ conceals complex issues,” Aug. 26)

One of my great aunts was born in Czechoslovakia, emigrated here and had children. When her sister died tragically in a fire in the 1930s, she returned to Czechoslovakia with her husband and children to raise her nieces and nephews.

When her country was invaded by the Nazis, her children were able to acquire American passports and were saved, whereas she, her husband and the rest of the family were rounded up and disappeared. It’s presumed that they died in Terezin or Auschwitz, but they were never heard from again.

This is why we grant citizenship to those born on our soil. If there are those who unfairly take advantage of the law, then perhaps those abuses are worth saving human lives.

Suzan Lowitz, Los Angeles

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To the editor: The climate is going weird; the West is on fire; antibiotics are becoming less useful every day; the Chinese economy may be not as great as everyone thought; the wealth gap is widening; fools with heavyweight weapons are slaughtering innocents; and suddenly we follow Donald Trump to focus on the practically insignificant but emotionally charged issue of “anchor babies.”

Please, give me a break.

Kenneth Rubenstein, Goleta, Calif.

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