Opinion: Missing link in story about families separated by border fence

To the editor: Your front-page picture of the border fence between Mexico and the U.S. reminded me of the Berlin Wall that also separated families.

( “At a border fence, families are so close and yet so far,” Sept. 18)

The Berlin Wall was ostensibly build to keep East Germans from fleeing to the West. But make no mistake, I believe the Berlin Wall was also built to keep out West German ideas about freedom. Stories about the West German standard of living were not wanted in the East.

Our wall is there to keep people out; there is no worry about keeping people in, although currently it seems more are leaving than coming. The fear that they bring crime is refuted by the facts, it is a red herring.

Ultimately, the Berlin Wall failed, as all walls fail —because the human spirit is stronger than concrete, bricks and mortar.

Karl F. Schmid, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Why was this article on the front page? Life is filled with choices, and when people decide to sneak into our country, they obviously know what they are doing is illegal.

Is it hard on families? Of course. Is it our problem? No.

People come here legally from all over the world and they don’t have the opportunity or pleasure of seeing their families through a fence — instead, they have to spend thousands of dollars for an airline ticket to see their families, which means some legal immigrants never get to see their families again.

Jan MacMichael, South Pasadena

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