Readers React: It is un-American for us to jail thousands of asylum seekers
To the editor: Thanks for your editorial on the detention of asylum seekers. In my years of visiting immigrant detainees, I have yet to meet a single person on the outside who is aware that our country jails asylum seekers and grants them no guaranteed representation in their hearings.
The number of asylum seekers detained has risen to almost 40,000. As your editorial notes, there are productive suggestions that could grant relief and shorten the backlog.
These people have suffered in their home countries and endured unimaginable hardship on their journeys to the United States, only to find themselves jailed in the country that is often represented by the Statue of Liberty. This treatment is un-American.
That our nation should treat those who have fled here for refuge is not consistent with our values. I am also unaware of a religious faith that could condone this treatment. I am grateful on their behalf that the L.A. Times has informed Americans what is being done in their name.
Craig Repp, Rancho Santa Margarita
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To the editor: As a Christian in what some say is a Christian nation, I am appalled at our treatment of human beings seeking refuge.
I am reminded of Matthew 25:35, in which the Son of Man sits in judgment of the nations: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me.”
Doris Isolini Nelson, Los Angeles
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