Letter: Immigration at the forefront of discussion

All 10 Democratic presidential candidates for president at Thursday night’s debate said they would provide health care to immigrants who are in the country illegally [“Debate over future of party,” News, June 28].

Such a benefit would begin an exodus from Central America to the United States. If you are a poor family in Central America and you can enter America, ask for asylum with little risk of being deported and have free health care, there is simply very little reason to stay where are you are.

We need answers to immigration, but providing greater incentives to cross the border is not one of them. It’s time to stop the fighting in and between both parties and address the immigration problem in a logical and humane way. It appears that everybody wants to get this done except the people currently serving in government.

Doug Augenthaler,

  Glen Head

As a person of faith who believes in the basic human dignity of all people, especially the most vulnerable among us, I am appalled by reports of the cruel and inhumane treatment of migrant children in U.S. custody. It is a national disgrace. How do we justify requiring children to sleep on cold cement or depriving them of basic necessities such as soap, toothbrushes and blankets? These children were basically left to fend for themselves, with older children (some only 7 or 8) stepping up to care for babies and toddlers.

The moral bankruptcy of our immigration policies is on full display for all to see. How can we criticize other nations for human rights violations when we treat vulnerable children with such cruelty and indifference?

Alessandra Torti,

  Point Lookout

During the first night of Democratic presidential debates, I was disgusted to see candidates trying to outdo each other to fawn over our population of people who crossed the border illegally.

America simply cannot be the welfare center of the world, as those candidates would have it. That debate gives Democrats good reason to become Republicans, and unless someone stands up and provides a solution to our immigration problem, Donald Trump is going to have his second term.

Alan R. Lichtenstein,

  Commack

I wish those who object to helping immigrants settle here would try to put themselves in the migrants’ place. Imagine living where there was so much poverty and violent crime that you felt the only way to keep your family safe was to risk a treacherous journey to an unknown land.

While we can’t take in unlimited thousands, we have a moral obligation to help. We could offer more aid to these countries to develop jobs and train law enforcement so they will want to stay at home. For those who come, create temporary dormitory-style housing while processing them and finding them places to live. Let them work legally so they contribute to our system rather than take from it. Provide jobs Americans usually don’t want, such as maids, landscapers and farmworkers.

If every church sponsored a couple of families, we would act in a humane way. Businesses could donate supplies, and parishioners could contribute a dollar or two a week to pay rent.

A father and daughter died trying to swim across the Rio Grande. His name was Oscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez. She wasn’t yet 2 years old, and her name was Valeria. She was tucked inside her daddy’s shirt, her arms wrapped around him.

Carol Raab,

  Coram

Your June 25 editorial, “Trump’s way is needlessly cruel,” was accurate in its depiction of the administration’s policies regarding mass deportation and the care of children who are in the United States illegally. But the title was not accurate. I believe the administration is not being needlessly cruel, it is being purposefully cruel.

The very idea that treating children so harshly would deter people trying to escape poverty, corruption and crime is moral bankruptcy at its height. Certainly there have been other episodes of such cruelty in America’s history, but you would think that we might have learned not to act in such a manner.

David Zipkin,

  Bay Shore

I have a problem with the Democratic presidential candidates speaking in Spanish at their debates. This is America, where most people speak English. In addition, because I don’t speak Spanish, I have no idea what the candidates are saying. Speak English!

Sheila Chustek,

  Fresh Meadows

In the face of unprecedented human rights violations by the current administration, our representatives in Congress have a duty to introduce legislation to prohibit the imprisonment of migrant children and mandate the humane treatment of every migrant entering the United States. That legislation should mandate proper and adequate nutrition, and provide for personal hygiene, medical care, and safe and sanitary facilities. It should prohibit cramming of migrants into small rooms with lights on 24 hours a day.

Our representatives should call out the administration’s atrocities every day, hold town halls, and meet with colleagues from both political parties to plead for their support. They should explain their deep concern for these humans.

If they don’t feel such concern, they should resign, or we will vote them out.

Patricia M. Pastor,

Manhasset

Editor’s note: The writer practices immigration law and is legislative vice president for the New York chapter of the National Organization for Women.