Letters: Immigration, legal and illegal

Re “Is illegal immigration passe?,” Editorial, May 1

As long as there are an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants here, we should keep the pressure on them to leave on their own, or “self-deport,” in the words of Romney. Also, I applaud the Obama administration’s continued deportation efforts of these “immigrants.”

Another amnesty? That’s the last thing we need. We all know how well the last one worked out.

Finally, there already is an agricultural worker program in place, the H-2A visa program, which allows growers access to the seasonal workers they need. It even has workers’ compensation and wage requirements.

Randle C. Sink

Huntington Beach

The Times’ view that a recent decline in illegal immigration “would take some of the pressure off” refers to political pressure, not population pressure, which remains relentless. Fixing immigration does not require another amnesty. It requires border enforcement plus reducing legal immigration, which exceeds illegal crossings. Only these measures can reduce immigration enough to stop forcing growth on Americans.

Immigration will remain too high so long as the nation’s population continues to grow past a sustainable level.

Kenneth Pasternack

Santa Barbara

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