This letter was written in response to “Migrants arrive at Mexico border,” written by Kate Linthicum and Patrick McDonnell for the Los Angeles Times.
Thanks for your piece on the current Mexico border standoff involving the Guatemalan immigrant caravan. While there can be no doubt that comprehensive overhaul of immigration laws is long overdue, we simply cannot allow unrestricted immigration into our country. Cast in the benign shadow, if you will, of our Statue of Liberty, our immigration policies have long welcomed the world’s suffering and needy. However, that process has always occurred within a lawful framework. Because that framework is now broken, many argue we should wholly disregard those laws. A sovereign state has a responsibility to provide its citizens with a reasonable expectation of security under the rule of law and order. To allow unrestricted access at our southern border invites chaos. America’s history proves the rule of law and a compassionate, generous immigration matrix are not necessarily antithetical.
Jeff Denker