Immigration issue stirs more debate

Regarding "Immigration issue festers" [Letters, April 4], the writers mention immigrants not paying taxes, that they cannot afford to educate their own children, that they will bankrupt our country, etc.

I think these people should be writing to their congressmen and senators to change the laws that allow General Electric and other big corporations not to pay taxes. The money they can collect from these large companies is far greater than collecting from undocumented immigrants.

What's more, immigrants do pay taxes. Large numbers of them file tax returns each year and report every penny they earn. Many of our own citizens work for cash, to get around reporting their income to the Internal Revenue Service.

It takes more than 12 years to get a visa to immigrate to the United States from Latin American countries. Let's remember that almost all of us here in the United States are immigrants. Many of our parents, grandparents or great-grandparents never requested nor received a visa to immigrate to this great country for a better life for their families.

Cesar A. Malaga

West Babylon

Editor's note: The writer is the president of the Hispanic American Association.
 

It should tell you something when only one of the four submissions printed criticizes America's treatment of immigrants and says they are abused. The writer, a social worker, has a compassionate heart but is not facing the facts.

The family created Emily Samantha Ruiz, and in so doing put an innocent child at risk. Emily is the fallout of poor immigration policies and parents who are not law-abiding people from the get-go. What their rights are is questionable.

Selma Musicant

Whitestone