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Selected Letters to the Editor on Colorado, overpopulation, and immigration (2002) See related letters: this year, 2003, 2001, and 2000 - many are excellent. Also see CAIR Letters to Elected Officials Flood of illegal aliens a threat to our nation - Rocky Mountain News, December 27, 2002 Why is it that Colorado's biggest newspapers report on how many people lose their jobs and the lengthening of unemployment lines - but don't report the reasons for these developments? Why don't they report how 80,000 illegal immigrants in our state have depressed wages, cost Americans their jobs and continue to use our state's resources in schools, medical services and infrastructure? Why is it that the president and Congress did not protect us from illegal immigration before Sept. 11 and have done nothing since? Why have 500,000 illegal immigrants been able to cross our borders in the past year with our useless homeland security? I challenge the News and its competitor to report on why our senators, congressman and women and governor won't stop illegal immigration. It's a travesty of irresponsibility toward those who elected them to defend them from "enemies both foreign and domestic." FROSTY WOOLDRIDGE, Louisville, CO Support of illegals borders on treason - Rocky Mountain News, December 18, 2002 Barbara Widick's Point/Counterpoint article ("House of cards," Nov. 23) on Mexican consular ID cards was so full of nonsense that she must cringe every time she applies any rational thought to what she wrote. Linda Seebach's view, on the other hand, was well taken, and she of course points out that it is mostly illegals who will want the card. One point she brushes by (undoubtedly because of space constraints) is that even though hiring illegals and catering to illegals is "good for business," it is most definitely not good for the country. It is not hard, as one example, for a terrorist to sneak in and "pass" as Juan Garcia. And no amount of "apologetics" will make this point go away. To me, support of illegal immigration borders on treason. One good thing I desperately hope will occur as a result of these mass registrations is that some professional hacker at the FBI or the INS will crack into Mexico's database of these illegals so that we can round 'em up and send 'em home. Dick Valentine, Wheat Ridge Change in direction? - Rocky Mountain News, December 13, 2002 Like a sibling rivalry, the Rocky Mountain News seems to be envious of the attention that The Denver Post has received over the Rep. Tom Tancredo flap and has decided to act badly themselves. After all, people misbehave for any kind of attention, even negative attention. Is that what the News is doing by allowing the incredibly inflammatory and ignorant piece by Tina Griego on your front page ("In the name of national security," Dec. 7)? You used to be the moderate paper. Does this represent a change in direction to one of pandering to the special interests that rule the immigration issue? Ed McCarthy, Broomfield Teach 'em in Spanish. Why not in Chinese, or Vietnamese? - Boulder Daily Camera, September 12, 2002 In 1998, Californians , despite vicious resistance, voted for Proposition 229, 'English for the Children' which replaced years of bilingual education programs with one-year of structured English immersion for non-English speaking (legal and illegal) immigrant children. Up to forty percent of the Hispanic vote favored the measure. In 2000, a citizens initiative all but identical to the California measure, was passed overwhelmingly by the voters of Arizona. This year, voters in Colorado are fortunate--thanks principally to Ron Unz’s generous financial support in getting Amendment 31, English Language Education for Children in Public Schools, on the ballot. The measure would require our public schools to teach our public school children in our State's Constitutionally designated official language, English, rather than in Spanish or some other non-English language. Judging from some writers of letters in opposition to Amendment 31, bilingualism is promoted by the current failed bilingual education programs. Just the opposite is true; bilingualism can most effectively be achieved by intensive concentration upon learning one language at a time. After three to five to seven years of so-called "bilingual education," far too many students --most, I dare say-- emerge after years essentially illiterate in English. It is no surprise that for decades over half of "bilingual students" in the Denver Public Schools become high school dropouts. Why? They had little challenge or opportunity to learn English in their bilingual education classes. Amendment 31 would give immigrant children an honest chance to become truly bilingual, i.e., become proficient in both English and Spanish-- in all four language skills. The only common sense way, the most efficient way, to learn Spanish or any other foreign language is to study that language, not one's native language. A common language is the basis, the foundation, for national cultural identity, an identity essential to national unity in any country. Multi-lingual nations, such as India, or an officially bilingual nation, such as Canada and Belgium, are divided nations. It is high time we all recognize the importance of maintaining our unilingual system. Spanish-speaking nations recognize that importance: Try taking your kids or grandkids to Mexico and asking Mexican schools to teach them in bilingual classes. Enjoy your trip back across the Rio Grande. Immigrants who come here to enjoy our economic prosperity must--for their good and our good as a people with a common socio-cultural-political heritage, learn English. As Americans we, of course, respect their culture. But by the same token we have every right to expect them to respect ours. Unless immigrants learn the most intimate expression of our culture, the English language, they will always feel estranged from us. We have no obligation whatsoever to teach immigrants or their children here the language (Spanish in almost every case, though there were speakers of 327 other languages living in the United States, according to the 1990 Census ) of the country from which they emigrated; that was the obligation of their home countries. Amendment 31 recognizes that it is in our national interest as well as in the interest of immigrant children to learn our language. It offers immigrant children a golden opportunity to enjoy and profit from the same educational opportunities offered to all American citizens and legal residents here. Charles L. King, Boulder, CO Charles King, member of the CAIR advisory council, is a Professor of Spanish Emeritus from the University of Colorado, and former editor of The Modern Language Journal, the world's foremost foreign language education journal. A book of homage to him was published in Spain in 1999. He has lived in three Spanish-speaking countries, and has visited every Hispanic nation in the world except two (Nicaragua and the Dominican republic). News disguising opinions as news - Rocky Mountain News, December 12, 2002 I am disturbed by the policy of the News to present editorials as main-section (even front-page) news items, while other editorials and opinions are buried in the Sports section. Dec. 7's front-page opinion column by Tina Griego is a prime example. Griego is not a reporter, she is an opinion writer and her writings should be treated as such, and placed in the editorial section. Maria Casillas entered our country illegally, purchased illegal documents - which is fraud - worked here against our laws and now wants special consideration and my sympathy? Not likely! Where was the front-page article, including pictures, of the illegal aliens rounded up in a drug raid last week? Does the News publish only sob stories about these people who enter our country against the law? Another recent example was an item about three nuns who illegally entered a government facility and damaged federal government property. In "reporting" this information, the article spoke of the government prosecuting and used the words "even if they are nuns." That is also opinion, insinuating that nuns are somehow above the law. They most definitely are not. Equality under the law in America includes nuns, pregnant illegal aliens, and smart, high-school-student illegal aliens. There is nothing special about these people. That's how it should be, and that is my opinion. Florence Michael, Denver Consumption a poor gauge for humanity - Rocky Mountain News, December 12, 2002 In his column of Nov. 25, "Frightening 'Moral Code'," Vincent Carroll finds "wrongheaded" ideas in A Moral Code for a Finite World, by former Gov. Dick Lamm and professor Herschel Elliott. Sure, Carroll is right to challenge Lamm and Elliott's "crystal ball" being the one used to design policy for man's future. But Lamm and Elliott's ideas (as described by Carroll) sound better than deferring to Carroll's "how humans actually behave." Human behavior needs review beyond the closed-loop of it reviewing itself through its consumer choices. I think even Carroll knows that. The vigorous wealth production of profit and consumption probably will continue to bring more people into material well-being, but not without a dramatic price tag, and no one knows for how long. Even if population stabilizes, appetite is that system's soul, and equilibrium is its enemy. We will need another planet on which to continue its expanding saga. Maybe Lamm and Elliott don't offer the right "new moral code" (again, as described by Carroll), but mankind's code had better be all of us doing the homework for asking good questions about human nature, human potential and human destiny. Development of intelligence to critical mass holds more promise for man's quality survival than does human consumption of, by, and for itself - sometimes called addiction. Jim Sickafoose, Wheat Ridge Learning English is respectful of U.S. - Rocky Mountain News, December 12, 2002 It's good to see so much continued post-election interest in Amendment 31. I think if the negative legal aspects (which scared a lot of people) had been taken out, it would have passed easily. Learning the language of the country you choose to live in is a form of respect. When my great-grandparents came to this country, they became legal Americans, and immersed their kids in English. Their native language was discouraged in their home. Even though they lived in communities with others from their homeland, they knew that to become a part of this country, and for their family to survive, they needed to learn the language. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to hold true today. This hurts the kids more than anyone else. They need to learn the language to survive just as much as our ancestors did. It doesn't matter if they're from across the ocean or just next door. The battle isn't unwinnable. It just needs to be fought better. Our health costs are going out of sight, our schools are bursting at the seams, and the cost of providing services is straining the system. We need to regain control. If they're illegal, they shouldn't be here. And they shouldn't just be made legal. That would just increase the illegal invasion. People who come here don't have to give up their heritage. We didn't. We're very proud of our heritage, and still practice many of our traditions. But we live here now - we're Americans! Mark Hermanson, Aurora Illegal aliens' plight elicits little sympathy - Rocky Mountain News, December 11, 2002 News columnist Tina Griego joins the ranks of those who blame the victims ("In the name of national security," Dec. 7). The criminal here is Maria Casillas, who breaks U.S. law when she enters the country, and breaks it again when she carries and presents forged U.S. documents. The victims are our laws, our tradition of honoring them, the many persons who wait to apply legally to come here, U.S. citizens who might want her job, the taxpayers who paid for her baby's birth and Maria's four-month INS detainment, and people who value DIA's security measures. But does Griego see it that way? Naw. Maria's an innocent whose plight is everybody's fault but Maria's. In her other columns, Griego has made it clear she is a serious, practicing Catholic, but perhaps she doesn't study what she practices. Remember St. Thomas Aquinas, Ms. Griego? His notion of "First Causes" as proof of the existence of God? Who and what are the first causes of Maria's incarceration, 13-day separation from her baby, and inhumane strip search? Maria and her illegal behaviors, of course. Maybe Griego could go to work for The Pilot, the Boston Archdiocese's newspaper, and whine about the spiritual and psychological strip search Cardinal Bernard Law is undergoing. Lots of victims there to cite as the culprits. John O'Shea, Denver Rocky Mountain News, December 11, 2002 I just read Tina Griego's heart-wrenching story of the illegal immigrant who gave birth to her baby while in jail and was tortured by the police during strip search. If this woman had been here legally, none of that would have happened. But of course she wanted to jump to the front of the line and get here before all those who wait their turn, pay their fees and become legal residents. I welcome legal immigration. But illegals - who think they are cutting a fat deal at everyone else's expense - should be shipped back as soon as they are apprehended, as in this case. I shed no tears for those who are cheaters. Bill Callaway, Highlands Ranch Rocky Mountain News, December 11, 2002 In reference to Tina Griego's Dec. 7 article about Maria Casillas, let's look at the facts. First of all, with the thousands of layoffs going on in this country, I am sure there are American citizens that could use her $9.75-an-hour job. Second, despite being chained to her hospital bed, she gave birth to her child in a modern hospital with the best medical care possible, all at the expense of the American taxpayer, I'm sure. But let's reverse the situation. What would happen to a pregnant American woman caught illegally in Mexico? She would be thrown in some filthy Mexican prison. When she gave birth to her baby, it would be in the prison infirmary with little or no medical attention. There would be no free bus ride back to the border. She and her child would remain in prison till her family could arrange to pay a bribe to some corrupt Mexican official to obtain her release. Please, no more illegal alien sob stories. Bob Vanskyver, Lakewood Rocky Mountain News, December 11, 2002 The Dec. 7 lead article by Tina Griego is nothing more than a one-sided plea for sympathy for a woman who voluntarily paid someone to smuggle her into the U.S., who bought a counterfeit ID and who chose to work at a high-security place such as DIA. Now we are being asked to side with her against our own immigration rules and the enforcement of such. I only wish that she had been deported before she gave birth to her child, who automatically became a U.S. citizen just by virtue of the fact that he was born on U.S. soil. The unemployment rate is at an eight-year high of 6 percent. There are 2 million fewer workers employed than just three years ago. Do you suppose that there just might be some Americans who would be glad to have those jobs at the airport? Rhonda Roseto, Westminster Rocky Mountain News, December 11, 2002 I just finished reading the Dec. 7 column by Tina Griego. I would like to say I'm sorry that a mother must be separated from her newborn daughter, but I also say, "Tough!" - she broke our laws by entering our country illegally. Perhaps she did so because our bleeding-heart liberals created in her the expectation that her sins would be forgiven and she would be allowed to stay. Perhaps she thought our government would not dare deport a pregnant woman or a woman who had just given birth. Whatever the reason, she must now face the consequences of her illegal act. Next time, she should enter my country legally if she wants to enjoy the benefits and opportunities that it offers. David Acheson, Arvada Rocky Mountain News, December 11, 2002 How about assigning Tina Griego to do another column in which she interviews an American victim of one of the numerous crimes perpetrated by illegal aliens. Let her end with the same "What are we becoming?" question and let's see it on the front page. Or perhaps she could do a column about the number of medical facilities that are simply closing their doors in the Southwest because they have run out of funds after years of free medical care to illegal aliens. Or is it too much to ask a columnist to be pro-American rather than anti-American? If we safeguard "freedom of the press," can't we also insist that the press try to provide balance and truth rather than distorted advocacy? Mike Sigman, Durango We're being mugged - The Denver Post, December 08, 2002 Re: "Working for the future," Dec. 1 special report. Since the earliest days of man's recorded history, we have had laws. The first known set of codes and laws was established in 2100 B.C. by a Babylonian king, Ur-Nammu. Later, another Babylonian king, Hammurabi, had laws carved into rock pillars and placed throughout his kingdom for all to see. Here in America we all know that we have immigration laws, but we also know that they are being ignored. On Dec. 1, The Denver Post published a well-done article on individuals who have illegally crossed into the U.S. Why is it The Post is able to easily find illegal immigrants to write about? Maybe the INS should follow Denver Post reporters; they certainly seem to know how to find these illegal aliens. Did The Post turn these aliens in to authorities? If not, why didn't they? If Post reporters saw a mugging, would they simply write a story on the mugging and leave the victim to fend for himself? America is being mugged and the "mugger," illegal immigration, has become the new feel-good topic. Why are we as Americans supposed to read about the hardships Mexicans face by illegally crossing our border and living in our country illegally and then sympathize with them? Doesn't our country have enough to deal with? I don't feel that we need to play wet nurse to every illegal alien in the Western Hemisphere. Let's close the border, deport every illegal alien and focus on real issues such as reforming our education, health-care and Social Security systems. LYNN AULT, Thornton Abandonment crisis - The Denver Post, December 08, 2002 Don't you get tired of writing sob stories about illegal aliens? For your information, there is a social crisis in Mexico these days. All these "wonderful" young men who are sneaking into our country are abandoning their wives and children. They don't send money home. They are never heard of again. They marry here and start a new brood, courtesy of the American taxpayer. They want to produce their anchor babies in the U.S. to ensure their stay here and a pox on their families in Mexico. Please stop the Pollyanna stories about these lawbreakers. They are not only causing havoc in the U.S. but also in Mexico by abandoning their families. I want to see the 1950s Operation Wetback again. No advance notice, no lawyers, but instant deportation. HAYDEE PAVIA, Laguna Woods, Calif. Shelters feed influx - The Denver Post, December 08, 2002 The article points out an interesting fact. A third or more of residents of Colorado homeless shelters are illegal aliens. This has two consequences. The first is that the homeless shelter system facilitates illegal immigration. The second is that resources designed to help the indigenous disenfranchised are being siphoned off for former residents of Mexico. In Boulder, the homeless shelter staff complains of overcrowding. It constantly petitions the city for more resources. The shelter wants a huge new facility. If it had a third fewer residents the need for this facility would disappear, but this is something no one ever mentions. In the article, farmer Larry Palmer denies that illegal aliens are taking jobs from Americans. In the aggregate this may be true. However, adults from Mexico are taking away entry-level jobs from the under-20 population. Our under-20 unemployment rate is four or five times that of the population as a whole. JAMES V. CHAVERN, Boulder Sympathetic media - The Denver Post, December 08, 2002 In Denver last week, an unlicensed, uninsured illegal immigrant from Mexico kills one and injures two after crashing his car into a bus stop. In California, illegal immigrants can attend state colleges for in-state tuition fees. Our tax dollars pay for illegals like Manuel in the article "Working for the future" to stay in a shelter so he can send almost every cent he earns back to Mexico. Why are the Denver newspapers so sympathetic to these people who take advantage of all of us? There are legal channels for coming to the U.S. Why does The Post endorse and encourage these parasites? Is there no conservative voice in the Denver media who will stand against this liberal wave of misdirected sympathy for those who break the law? To Manuel and his family: Get out. Come back under the auspices of the law and do it right like my family did at Ellis Island several generations ago. JOHN McADAM, Denver Another sniper? - The Denver Post, December 08, 2002 The INS blew another one and more illegals entered the country. Just like the two who supposedly remodeled Tom Tancredo's home, The Post has outed another illegal on Page One and is again rubbing our noses in another sad and tragic story. Maybe this illegal will turn out to be another sniper and all may look back on another glowing example of INS incompetence. Or maybe this 17-year-old illegal will bring his wife to this country so we may all support them with welfare, Medicare and education at taxpayer expense. Maybe, if someone gets lucky and is sitting at a bus stop, he may plow into them with a car. No insurance, no license, no registration. But the truth of the story leaks out in paragraph three; Salt Lake City is unfriendly, Phoenix is too dangerous, and Texans hate Mexicans. Imagine that. The economic realities of illegal immigration are: (1) the vast sums of money removed from this country's economy and sent south to prop up Vicente Fox, and (2) the ungodly sums spent on illegals' health and welfare in this country. Just those two items alone ($46 billion) are more than adequate to pay for our seniors' prescription drug needs. MICHAEL BROWN, Morrison Remember Cesar - The Denver Post, December 02, 2002 Re: "Holding the door open for immigrants," Nov. 25 Michelle Nijhuis op-ed column. I wonder if Michelle Nijhuis realizes the harm the flood of Mexican immigrants does to our own poor. Is she telling unemployed Hispanics in Rio Arriba County, N.M., the poorest county in the nation, or Native Americans on reservations where unemployment is as high as 50 percent, that her only concern is for Mexico's poor? I side with the late Cesar Chavez, who saw high immigration for what it was: a subsidy to big businesses for cheap labor and a hindrance to his efforts to get farm workers decent wages and safe working conditions. He even volunteered the United Farm Workers to help patrol the border. He supported a 1986 mass amnesty only because he was promised that immigration would then be shut down. Since then, there have been seven more amnesties. Obviously, Chavez was lied to. Farm workers, according to Department of Labor statistics, are paid less today than when he was alive. CORINE FLORES, Santa Fe, N.M. Pro-environment? - The Denver Post, December 02, 2002 The article by Michelle Nijhuis is particularly dismaying because, unlike the usual pro-immigration apologists such as self-serving lawyers and business interests, she may actually be relatively well informed - and she still won't see the light. Legal and fairness issues aside, any so-called environmentalist who is pushing to continue our ongoing unprecedented wave of legal and illegal immigration might as well go to work for a real-estate developer or a hazardous waste dump. Any environmental gains we may make in fuel-efficiency standards or setting aside the small areas left undeveloped will eventually be overwhelmed and reversed if we don't halt and then reverse our third-world population growth rate (75 percent of which is fueled by immigration). AL TREASE, Grand Junction Immigration is a matter of resources, not racial profiling - Boulder Colorado Daily, December 1, 2002 Immigration is a matter of resources, not racial profiling Last week, Governor Owens said he will clear cut forests in order to bring much needed water to the Front Range. Others want to dam more rivers. Why not dam the clouds as the next brilliant concept! Those ideas are like a fat man trying to lose weight by using a vibrating belt to shake up his fat and pretending something good is happening. A recent study reported through the Associated Press said long term drought will have a devastating effect on the availability of water in the Western United States. Cities, farms and wildlife will knowa new kind of scarcity. "You'd like there to be some good news in there somewhere, but unfortunately there is not," said Tim Barnett, a research marine physicist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. "Overall precipitation levels are likely to remain constant, but warmer temperatures mean what would have fallen as snow will instead come down as rain which will not store up for summer when demand spikes." Among the findings of what is forecast to occur in the next 25 to 50 years: Reservoir levels along the Colorado River will drop by more than a third and releases by 17%. The continued growth in the population of the West will exacerbate the problem. That makes for a crisis, said Bill Patzert, a NASA research oceanographer who was not connected with the new research. "The problem in the West is not climate change, it's too many people using too much water," Patzert said. With another 4 million people added to Colorado by mid-century, the problem can't be solved! Who will suffer the consequences of our leaders overlooking the one solution that WILL solve the problem? You and your children. What is the answer that our leaders refuse to discuss? Simple: population stabilization. What's driving population growth? Massive immigration of 2.5 million per year according to the Center for Immigration Studies 2002. What can you do about it? Get involved with organizations who are working to reduce immigration to sustainable levels such as 100,000 per year so that all Americans who come here have a decent chance at the American dream. Check out www.numbersusa.com; www.balance.org; www.carryingcapacity.com; [www.npg.org], or write me at frostyw at juno dot com. It's not about race, creed or color. It's about too many people. It's about your children and a sustainable society. The more extreme our numbers the more extreme our consequences. FROSTY WOOLDRIDGE, Louisville, CO Here's why not - The Denver Post, November 24, 2002 Re: "Why not ID cards?" Nov. 10 guest commentary. In her column filled with half-truths and untruths, immigration lawyer Ann Allott asked why illegal aliens in the U.S. should not receive ID cards. Here's why, Ms. Allott: Because the vast majority of Americans, Coloradans and citizens of the City and County of Denver in poll after poll say we do not want accommodations made to people who broke into our country and commit multiple crimes, including felony ID fraud, to perpetuate themselves here. We want them deported. Because we don't need to accommodate more foreign criminals. Because the 4.3 million people from around the world who have applied to immigrate to the U.S. legally and have been waiting in line, in some cases for many years, do not want us to accommodate illegal aliens. Because it is probably illegal, something even an immigration lawyer should be mindful of. The question we should be asking is: Why would an immigration lawyer want to help illegal aliens further entrench themselves in our country? Because immigration lawyers charge a minimum of $1,500 for each application for status adjustment of an illegal alien. It really says something about our "democracy" when a handful of elites conspiring with the corrupt Mexican government can overrule the unequivocal opinion of the vast majority of Americans. BUNNY WILSON, Boulder Impact of illegals - The Denver Post, November 24, 2002 Re: "Fiery debate rages as immigrants pour in," Nov. 17 news article. There is another impact that illegals have on Colorado that was not mentioned. That is the impact illegals have on the environment. If, in gross terms, growth is bad (if it causes our roads to be clogged, air to be fouled and water to be depleted), then opponents of growth should be vehemently opposed to illegal immigration. JAMES V. CHAVERN, Boulder Time to deport illegal aliens - The Daily Camera, November 12, 2002 With interest I read Laurie Herndon's suggestion that "the exploitation of illegal immigrants is a human rights issue that America needs to resolve," in your Oct. 27 article, "Spanish outreach urged." I totally agree. In fact we have immigration laws on the books that if enforced would protect these illegal aliens from being exploited by the felons who hire them. My suggestion would be for our government to enforce these laws to the fullest extent, meaning deportation. This would resolve the hardships that face the illegal alien here in Boulder. This would also give more time for the Human Relations Commission and advocates for immigrants to spend its resources on the legal immigrants and citizens of our city instead of demanding rights for law breakers disguised as "victims." And I must say I am a bit shocked that Ms. Herndon would consider this illegal workforce as "the new slavery." After all, they are quite aware they are breaking our nation's laws and do it through their own free will. BUNNY WILSON, Boulder It's time for troops to patrol the border - The Daily Camera, November 9, 2002 Why won't the national media report on illegal immigration and its worsening impact on our country? Worse, hundreds of thousands of illegals have walked across our Mexico border since 9/11 - giving us one of the serial killers of Washington, D.C. - thus paralyzing us with fear. Responsibility for the terrible sniper carnage in the Washington, D.C.-area must be placed on the Immigration and Naturalization Service and President Bush and our Congress, because both of the accused were in the hands of the INS, then released. John Lee Malvo should have been immediately deported as is the required procedure for a stowaway. No one in the media is writing about it as hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens keep prancing across our borders. It is infuriating to see photos of the snipers' victims and their families and realize that one of the accused killers should not have even been in this country. Every American remains a target for the world's criminals and terrorists who can enter and murder at will because the government refuses to enforce our borders. Our country is being undermined by our own leaders. Denver Mayor Wellington Webb gives illegal aliens Mexican matricular cards, U.S. Sens. Wayne Allard and Ben Campbell, as well as U.S. Reps. Diana Degette and Mark Udall, have done nothing to deport more than 8 million illegal aliens before 9/11 and nothing since. You as a U.S. citizen must call, write and email your senators and representatives to get U.S. troops on the Mexican border to stop what can be described as an invasion of illegal immigrants. It's that serious. FROSTY WOOLDRIDGE, Louisville Pro-matriculas protesters stomped on speech rights - The Denver Post, November 7, 2002 Re: "City challenged on Mexican ID," Nov. 1 news story. On Oct. 31, we at the Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform ( www.cairco.org ) called a press conference to announce our intention to serve Denver's Mayor Webb a letter informing him we believe him to be in violation of federal law. Rep. Tom Tancredo joined us on the steps of the Denver City and County Building. About 40 thugs, punks, street bums, criminals and assorted nefarious characters showed up to shout down and rough up our press conference. Because the congressman has been the object of threats of violence, he prudently departed. With a banner currently over the City and County Building reading "Denver Celebrates Diversity," it shouldn't go unnoticed that the hoodlums - referred to by one newspaper as "immigrant rights advocates" - reportedly had the support of the mayor's bellicose apologist, Andrew Hudson. The actions of those punks to threaten, intimidate and stomp on First Amendment rights apparently are the mayor's idea of "celebrating diversity." Those criminals are some of the very same to whom the mayor wants to give a de facto (and possibly illegal) municipal amnesty. MIKE McGARRY, Lakewood We need more from Planet Tancredo - The Rocky Mountain News, November 5, 2002 It's been reported that Mayor Wellington Webb's office plans to accept matricula consular cards as identification, cards that can be obtained at the Mexican Consulate by legal and illegal immigrants. It was also reported that Rep. Tom Tancredo was being criticized for suggesting illegal immigrants should be rounded up by the INS as they come out of the consulate with these cards. Said Tancredo: "The only people who would of course need such a card are people who are here illegally." He suggested the INS park a bus by these lines and arrest those who are here illegally. In response, Webb's spokesman, Andrew Hudson, asked, "What kind of bizarre Tom Tancredo planet is he living on?" This is a great observation, and I guess the cat's out of the bag now. It turns out Tancredo is from a planet very far from here. On this planet, politicians say what's true, rather than what is politically expedient. Unlike politicians on this planet, they come complete with a backbone. This is a place where government agencies are actually held accountable to perform the tasks they were created to perform. So if this planet had an agency that was created - hypothetically speaking - to keep people from moving into a country illegally, they would actually perform that function, rather than just wasting taxpayer money while performing a shell game designed to make people feel safe! For me, the only real question is, how did Tancredo get to our planet, and will they send us any more like him? Then we can finally reform the INS, an organization that apparently can't find illegal immigrants even when hundreds of them are lining up every day on a sidewalk right in the middle of town! Steve Blum, Conifer Post's long time support of illegal alliens and mass immigration - The Denver Post, November 3, 2002 The Denver Post's long time support of illegal aliens and mass immigration might take a second look as John Melvo, the support sniper in Washington, DC, was arrested in December, 2001, and let go by the INS. He then supported his Muslim terrorist step father Mohammed on a deadly rampage that killed 10 American citizens. Because our federal government didn't enforce our immigration laws before 9/11 nor since that tragic day, a 17 year old illegal alien kid became the side kick of a terrorist killer. But the deeper story is the fear and paralysis caused throughout our country. You can imagine bin Laden or his lieutenants were taking notes on the effects of one sniper. What are the chances another 20 snipers are being sent over here via Mexico where they can waltz across the border and set up in Atlanta, LA, Chicago, New York, Miami, Boston and Detroit for starters? American citizens MUST call their reps and yell at them that they want our borders protected with American troops to stop the invasion of illegal aliens and terrorists into our country. And, the Denver Post staff needs to wake up, smell the blood and start supporting immigration laws because the next sniper might set up in Denver. Frosty Wooldridge A few 'indisputable' facts about illegals - The Rocky Mountain News, October 30, 2002 Here are a few indisputable facts concerning the present controversies of illegal aliens flooding the U.S.: Fact: Every job that is presently filled by an illegal alien criminal could, would and should be filled by an American citizen or a properly documented foreigner. Fact: If an employer cannot fill an $8-per-hour position in order to stay in business, that employer must offer a higher wage. If that employer cannot or will not pay a fair wage, then another employer will supply that demand. Fact: Illegals have all but destroyed the possibility of an American citizen earning a fair wage in certain venues. For example, in the residential construction industry, as a journeyman frame carpenter, the average wage in the Denver area presently is $10 to $12 per hour. That is the same pay as in the late 1980s. If the left-wing bleeding hearts who have no problem with these criminals cheating Americans out of work were forced to take a 50 percent, 60 percent or 70 percent cut in their pay, and still face the possibility of unemployment, all because of a market flooded with criminals, their tunes would change! These criminals are here now, in force, with a handful of "gimme" and a mouthful of "gimme more"! And, to my astonishment, there are still a few inconsiderate, thoughtless, totally unpatriotic Americans blindly backing this infestation! Tate Travis Westminster So glad to see News promoting illegality - The Rocky Mountain News, October 28, 2002 It does my heart good to see so many illegals mocking the laws of this country right on the front page of the News ("Hundreds flock to get IDs," Oct. 9). I am proud to see not only Denver Mayor Wellington Webb so blatantly attempting to circumvent the laws of this nation, but an American newspaper promoting illegal immigration. It also makes me feel good to see - in a neighboring headline - that 1,700 Americans are losing their jobs, joining millions of others. With the U.S. economy heading south and the swarm of illegals heading north, I am happy to see that so many illegals are being put ahead of Americans on the economic ladder. May I suggest the News begin publishing a list of laws that all Americans may, at their leisure, begin to ignore? It could start with traffic laws, parking tickets, Medicare contributions, Social Security taxes, etc. Michael Brown Morrison Embarassed by mockery - The Denver Post, October 27, 2002 Re: Illegal immigrants provided cover for Sept. 11, Oct. 21, The Open Forum. I am embarrassed that this country and its politicians have no concern for citizens. Our immigration laws are a joke, and it is so very tiring reading The Denver Post and its mockery of Rep. Tancredo, who wishes to defend this country and its borders. Does the Statue of Liberty stand for liberty or for immigration? It was always my understanding that the statue was given to the U.S. to symbolize liberty; it was never set up or constructed to have anything to do with immigration. Our liberty has been stolen by the immigration advocates and its original meaning has been corrupted by pandering politicians, uninformed citizens and hungry immigration lawyers. I agree with the families who lost loved ones on Sept. 11 - and also the the family of Kris Eggle, the park ranger who was killed at the border because of a government that has no concern for its citizens. Polls indicate that more than 80 percent of Americans want illegal immigration stopped and legal immigration reduced to sustainable numbers. What is it about this issue that the panderers don't understand? JAN HERRON Evergreen 'Cheap labor' argument is hollow - The Rocky Mountain News, October 24, 2002 Bobi Lopez raised a very interesting question in an Oct. 10 letter ("Who will pick fruit?"), which I suppose was meant to trump any opposition to the army of 8 million to 11 million illegal aliens camped out in our country. The question, in its many possible variants, is not new. For example, a similarly worded question, based on the same faulty logic, was used to justify slavery. In that case, those who cried, "Without slaves, who will pick the cotton?" soon learned that a market economy will adjust wages to attract sufficient labor or stimulate innovation to mechanize the jobs, providing a product to the consumer with little or no cost differential. With immigrant labor - legal or illegal - corporations usually reap increased profits, while the taxpayer is presented with higher taxes and fees to fund services for those immigrants. As several creditable studies have shown, the 10 cents you might save on a head of lettuce will be more that offset by the cost of providing health care to "cheap" workers and their nonworking family members, including schooling their children. But even more serious to our nation's social order are the episodes of pandering by unscrupulous politicians, the latest and most vulgar example being Mayor Wellington Webb's little adventure of breaking open the Denver city treasury for illegal aliens carrying prized $29 Mexican identification cards issued by the local fifth column Mexican consulate. William G. Herron Colorado Immigration Watch, Evergreen Illegal immigrants provided cover for Sept. 11 - The Denver Post, October 21, 2002 Re: "Tancredo renews border-troops call; Family of slain ranger backs effort," Oct. 9 news story. All the co-signers of this letter lost a brother, a sister, a son, a daughter, a wife, a husband, a mother or a father in the terrorist attack of Sept. 11. We have felt compelled to objectively study why these attacks could be so effectively carried out. We speak out in support of Rep. Tom Tancredo's efforts to have immigration law enforced at all times. We are convinced that enforcing America's long-standing laws on immigration is essential if another Sept. 11-scale attack is to be avoided. For 25 years, the government has not been seriously attempting to stop illegal immigration. The result is that today there is a vast ocean of illegal immigrants, 8 million to 11 million in number. It is this ocean that allowed the hijackers to plan, rehearse, finance and carry out their mass murders over a long period of time, almost completely free of fear that they would be discovered. Those millions provided the cover, the world in which the terrorists could immerse themselves and disappear. The existence of that population of illegals was a loud and clear message to Osama bin Laden that his plot was practical. It told him: "Send over your agents. America is weak-willed and long ago stopped enforcing its immigration law. The country is wide open." His attack reveals that he understood that message. The U.S. Congress has given the INS enough funds to hire only 1,800 agents to patrol the entire interior of the U.S. for the aliens who are here illegally. The Sept. 11 murderers understood that Congress does not want to enforce the immigration law. The illegal population also has blazed the trail for the terrorists to obtain that most basic and useful from of "valid ID," the driver's license. Every American must understand that those drivers' licenses were the "valid ID" that got those murderers onto the jets they used to murder our loved ones. Rep. Tancredo, by his support for enforcement of the law, shows that he understands that our country can never fight terrorism without waging a real fight against illegal immigration. Finally, we understand that the story of Jesus Apodaca and his family was brought to the attention of The Post as part of a campaign to get Colorado to grant in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens. The consul's involvement in the internal affairs of our country is a violation of our sovereignty and the treaties and traditions which allow her to be here. She should be deported immediately, and if the staff of the consulate continues these activities, it should be closed. We, who have lost forever the love and touch of people we treasured, know that 19 aliens could murder 3,000 innocent Americans because millions of illegal aliens just by their presence in the U.S. provided cover for them. We applaud Rep. Tancredo. PETER GADIEL Kent, Conn. This letter was co-signed by 10 other family members of victims of Sept. 11. Chavez was ardent foe of illegal aliens - Rocky Mountain News, October 19, 2002 With his reckless, defiant support for the sham Mexican matricula consular ID card, Denver Mayor Wellington Webb just gave the green light to the 8 million to 13 million illegal aliens around the country to flood into Colorado, where criminals are welcomed and anything goes. And how ironic that the insult comes at a time when the voters of Colorado will be deciding whether to honor with a state holiday a man who, during his time, was the country's most aggressive warrior against illegal immigration: Cesar Chavez. Chavez knew more than anyone the scourge of illegal alienage. He knew his nascent, struggling United Farm Workers didn't stand a chance if the U.S. government did not maintain the integrity of the borders and enforce immigration law in the interior. UFW members never missed the chance to report the presence of illegal aliens. Indeed, Chavez offered his UFW members to the government to assist the U.S. Border Patrol in monitoring the border. The government chose the side of the corporate growers, however, and essentially abandoned the borders and abdicated on interior enforcement, thereby destroying the hopes of the UFW to bring livelihood, dignity and salvation to the fields. As a footnote - not that it would matter to the mayor - Denver's KMGH-Channel 7 conducted an informal but very telling online poll in which 90 percent of the respondents voted against recognizing the sham illegal alien ID. But what the people want seems not to be what the political, media and corporate elites want, and they will force their agendas upon us just as the U.S. government did upon the toiling, besieged UFW. Let's vote to honor one of the country's most courageous fighters against illegal immigration, Cesar Chavez, and for that reason. Mike McGarry Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform, Lakewood Spanish speakers should be insulted - Rocky Mountain News, October 18, 2002 Why is it that immigrants from countries such as Russia, China, Vietnam, Turkey, Japan, Germany, etc., can learn English readily, but Spanish-speaking immigrants apparently cannot? Having lived in several European countries, I can attest that the transition from Spanish to English is far easier than the transition from many other foreign languages. What does the insistence of Spanish-speaking immigrants to be taught in Spanish in our taxpayer-supported schools say about the intelligence of Spanish-speaking immigrants? If I were a Spanish-speaking immigrant, I would be highly insulted. English is the language of this country. If you are here legally, learn it. If you are here illegally, go back to your own country, apply to come here legally and be a respected, contributing immigrant to this country. Gene Hentzen Apodacas to blame for their problems - Rocky Mountain News, October 17, 2002 Our newspapers need to get off Rep. Tom Tancredo, because there are tens of thousands of American citizens who agree with him. If you're in this country illegally and caught, you and or your entire family should be deported. No one has pointed out that Jesus Apodaca and his family have been in the U.S. for six years and have done nothing in order to stay here legally. Seems to me they are the ones to blame, not Tancredo. I do not want my tax dollars spent on illegal immigrants when we have American citizens that are in need of help. I would rather see it spent on Immigration and Naturalization Service reform, tighter border controls and going after companies who hire illegal immigrants. While our country is in need of immigrant workers, there are worker programs such as the program adopted by the city of Thornton that benefit both sides. Pamela Staeck, Denver We'll urge Tancredo to run for the Senate - Denver Post, October 15, 2002 U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo is not the racist many illegal-alien advocacy groups want to make him out to be. He is, rather, one who is defending our nation and our laws on immigration. We live in Colorado Springs and we wish we had Tancredo as our representative in Congress. Since Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell has now shown his true colors and wants to be a lawbreaking representative in our U.S. Senate, we are going to urge Tancredo, after he wins his bid for Congress, to consider running against Campbell for that senator's seat when it comes up again. Also, Gov. Bill Owens on this subject has shown himself as not being a true law-abiding representative of our government here in Colorado. My wife and I are now abstaining from voting for him in this upcoming election. Stephen and Debra Bell,Colorado Springs Hitting a nerve - Denver Post, September 29, 2002 When anyone overreacts to criticism, we often say that the criticism has "hit a nerve." Considering the reaction of The Denver Post to my call to the INS regarding the Apodaca family (24 stories in nine days!) the nerve I hit must have been exceedingly tender. I have been in politics for a long time, but cannot recall such venomous editorializing - and sometimes it was even on the editorial page! I do appreciate the opportunity to provide a second response, so here goes: About a month after The Post and the Mexican consul decided to showcase the Apodaca family as part of a lobbying effort to change state tuition law, I called the Denver office of the INS. I "demanded" nothing. I never mentioned any individual member of the Apodaca family. I asked what their procedure was in a case like this. They said they would send a letter to the family. If the family is here illegally, they face deportation charges because that is the law, not because I inquired about them. I do not expect the INS to send a SWAT team out or divert any resources from more serious cases. Likewise, I hope they will not ignore this case as they do so many others, because if they do, two bad messages are sent. One is that our immigration laws are meaningless. The second is that the millions who have obeyed them are world-class suckers. It is ironic that both papers gave relatively scant attention to the folks who became legal citizens last week while spending countless barrels of ink defending one family who chose not to. Now, let's deal with the other story that commanded front-page placement in the Post - my basement refinishing! You claim that two guys decided to "out" themselves as illegal aliens and felons who falsified employment documents for an employer I hired to refinish my basement. Boy, this is grist for the National Inquirer. Even they, however, would ask the question, "What has Tom Tancredo got to do with it?" Great question, I think. Rep. TOM TANCREDO, Littleton News misses point about Tancredo - The Rocky Mountain News, September 20, 2002 The News' description of Rep. Tom Tancredo's action regarding Jesus Apodaca as "an unseemly resolve to deport an honor student" completely misses the point ("Tom Tancredo, meet Inspector Javert," Sept. 17). What Apodaca and his family did in collusion with the Mexican consulate and The Denver Post was to stage a civil protest against a law they don't agree with. I don't believe marijuana should be illegal, but if I protested the law by sitting on the steps of the Capitol and smoking a joint, should I expect to be arrested? Even though I was an honor student? Did the Apodaca family believe they could flagrantly and publicly violate the law and not suffer the consequences? The Rocky Mountain News should be applauding Tancredo for pointing out the ineffectiveness of the INS rather than criticizing him for expecting our laws to be enforced. Robert Webb, Evergreen Amendment 31 Aids Immigrants - The Boulder Daily Camera, September 20, 2002 In 1998, Californians , despite vicious resistance, approved Proposition 229, "English for the Children" which replaced years of bilingual education programs with one-year of structured English immersion for non-English speaking (legal and illegal) immigrant children. Up to forty percent of the Hispanic vote favored the measure. In 2000, a citizens initiative all but identical to the California measure, was passed overwhelmingly by the voters of Arizona. This year, voters in Colorado are fortunate--thanks principally to Ron Unz's generous financial support in getting Amendment 31, English Language Education for Children in Public Schools, on the ballot. The measure would require our public schools to teach our public school children in our state's constitutionally designated official language, English, rather than in Spanish or some other non-English language. Judging from some writers of letters in opposition to Amendment 31, bilingualism is promoted by the current failed bilingual education programs. Just the opposite is true; bilingualism can most effectively be achieved by intensive concentration upon learning one language at a time. After three to seven years of so-called "bilingual education," far too many students --most, I dare say-- emerge essentially illiterate in English. It is no surprise that for decades over half of "bilingual students" in the Denver Public Schools become high school dropouts. Why? They had little challenge or opportunity to learn English in their bilingual education classes. Amendment 31 would give immigrant children an honest chance to become truly bilingual, i.e., become proficient in both English and Spanish. The only common sense way, the most efficient way, to learn Spanish or any other foreign language is to study that language--not one's native language. A common language is the basis, the foundation, for national cultural identity, an identity essential to national unity in any country. Multi-lingual nations, such as India, or an officially bilingual nation, such as Canada and Belgium, are divided nations. It is high time we all recognize the importance of maintaining our unilingual system. Spanish-speaking nations recognize that importance: Try taking your kids or grandkids to Mexico and asking Mexican schools to teach them in bilingual classes. Enjoy your trip back across the Rio Grande. Immigrants who come here to enjoy our economic prosperity must--for their good and our good as a people with a common socio-cultural-political heritage--learn English. As Americans we, of course, respect their culture. But by the same token, we have every right to expect them to respect ours. Unless immigrants learn the most intimate expression of our culture, the English language, they will always feel estranged from us. We have no obligation whatsoever to teach immigrants or their children here the language (Spanish in almost every case, though there were speakers of 327 other languages living in the United States, according to the 1990 Census) of the country from which they emigrated; that was the obligation of their home countries. Amendment 31 recognizes that it is in our national interest as well as in the interest of immigrant children to learn our language. It offers immigrant children a golden opportunity to enjoy and profit from the same educational opportunities offered to all American citizens and legal residents here. Charles King Thank God that Tom Tancredo is my congressman! - The Rocky Mountain News, September 17, 2002 Thank God that Tom Tancredo is my congressman! Tancredo is an honest and courageous man. Thanks to recent redistricting, Tancredo is now the congressman for my city. He speaks his mind on illegal immigration and he speaks from the heart. Polls show that the majority of Americans are opposed to illegal immigration. Americans want the military installed on our borders immediately to help protect our nation. Tancredo is one of the very few congressman who speaks up for Americans. He has the support of this American. Lindy Ashner, Elizabeth Thank the Lord for Denver Post columnist Tina Griego - The Rocky Mountain News, September 16, 2002 I mean, really, who can condemn the motives of Americans who believe in the rule of law as she can? Who but Griego can ignore our national law, and national sovereignty whenever they thwart the request of Jesus Apodaca, the son of an illegal Mexican immigrant? Who but Griego wants to reward little Jesus for brazenly declaring his illegal status on the Post's front page (in open mockery of the rule of law in Colorado and America) and demanding that he be required to pay only in-state tuition at the University of Colorado? Who but Griego can say that those among us, including Rep. Tancredo, who believe in the rule of law, and would like our laws to be obeyed, don't "have a heart"? Who but Griego can maliciously interpret Tancredo's respect for law as motivated by a desire to "score a political point"? The congressman's only motive was to uphold our national laws, and promote the welfare of all Americans. Griego's name-calling clearly reveals the rational --even moral-- bankruptcy of her column, "The law is clear; so are the motives." Indeed, her motives are all too clear. By continuing to allow illegal immigration to make a mockery of our immigration laws , we are sowing the wind. We will in time reap the whirlwind, and we or our descendants won't like that. Charles King News misses point about Tancredo - The Denver Post, September 9, 2002 Undermining our sovereignty When Congressman Tom Tancredo asks a law-enforcement agency to enforce the laws against illegal immigration, then all patriotic Americans should rally to his support. When The Denver Post puts the illegal-alien Apodaca family on the front page to taunt and mock our immigration laws, undermine our sovereignty and sell newspapers, it is no surprise. INS officials who refuse to enforce our immigration laws should be replaced. The Apodaca family is now a symbol of the 10 million illegals who reside in our country. Symbols are important. This one is now going to be used to protect the present illegals from deportation and to aid the next 10 million as they continue to arrive. If the Apodaca family is allowed to stay, and if Tancredo is defeated in his re-election bid, then our immigration laws and our borders mean nothing. The Bush administration and most of Congress have turned their backs on border enforcement. I believe Tancredo's re-election will represent a rebuke of The Post and a call for mass deportation of illegals. Perry Lorenz, Fort Collins Draw 'line in sand' to better protect monuments - Denver Post, August 27, 2002 Re: "Drawing a line in the sand; Organization offers water, aid to desert-crossing illegal immigrants from Mexico," Aug. 4 Lifestyle story. I fully sympathize with humanitarians offering life-saving water for illegal aliens. I've put out water caches for legal backpackers and I fully understand the risks of a desert crossing. Clearly, no one should die in the desert. Yet by lax and sporadic border enforcement, we are allowing national parks, monuments and forests along our borders to be decimated by illegal aliens, drug traffickers and even incursions by the Mexican police and military. Our parks and forests are now the gateway of choice for illegal aliens entering our country - witness the recent shooting of a ranger in Oregon Pipe National Monument. We are allowing Mexico to export its overpopulation problem and we are the recipient. If we are to have any hope of preserving our border parks and forests for future generations, we would be well-advised to arrest coyotes (smugglers) and to fully seal our borders in these sensitive areas. Fred Elbel, Lakewood No tears for illegals bemoaning tuitions - Rocky Mountain News August 27, 2002 The News' Aug. 15 editorial, "Immigrant students and in-state tuition," lacked one critical word in the headline: "illegal." We are hearing many sob stories about the illegal immigrants who can't afford out-of-state tuition to our colleges and how they should be granted in-state status. The editorial stated, "It does remove a hardship imposed on children who themselves had no voice in their parents' decision to come, or to stay illegally." How is that different from the hardship for children who themselves had no say in their parents' decision to live in New York, Oregon, Tennessee, etc.? At least these students are the children of legal Americans. How is it different from students here on student visas whose parents choose to stay in their home countries? They, at least, are law abiding. These illegals should be thankful they received a high school education here when they were in the country as a result of breaking our laws. To insinuate that they have no chance at a higher education is false. Many Americans who can't afford even the in-state tuition get jobs, work, and go to school part time. I am sure these people can find someone who would ignore our laws against hiring illegals and give them a job while they attend school. After all, someone ignored those laws and hired their parents. I have no tears for them. They are lucky that they aren't being deported and told to wait in line to come legally like many others, instead of expecting special considerations. Florence Michael, Denver Lamm last politician to confront sprawl - Rocky Mountain News August 27, 2002 The Denver Water Board has decided that its customers will face harsher outdoor watering restrictions, thus lowering the value of our property and the beauty of our city. I can understand the need to conserve water and charge us more for excess use, but why didn't the board restrict water taps to developers? Will a politician step up and say enough to developing the semi-arid Front Range? Not likely! The last politician to speak out against development was Gov. Richard Lamm. His pockets were free of developer lint. Dafyyd O'Seaghdha Daukyn, Denver Illegals' only benefit: one-way ticket home - Rocky Mountain News August 21, 2002 In its Aug. 15 "Immigrant students and in-state tuition" editorial the News supports a bill by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, which would allow illegal aliens who successfully evade the law for five years to apply for legal status. This is an amnesty measure. Ronald Reagan's amnesty to millions of illegal aliens, most of them from Mexico, merely encouraged more illegals to come here with the expectation that they too would get the same legal break. America is being invaded by millions of lawbreakers who knowingly and willfully decide to ignore our immigration laws. Democrats generally applaud the invasion because they expect to get more votes once these people become citizens. Republicans, except for heroes like Tom Tancredo, are afraid to defend our borders for fear of being tagged as racist. Resident status, welfare payments, medical care, driver's licenses and other benefits should go only to Americans and others who are here legally. Illegals are entitled to one benefit: a one-way ticket back to their own country. Earl F. Dodge, Denver Subsidizing illegals' schooling is wrong - Rocky Mountain News August 20, 2002 The News' Aug. 15 editorial, "Immigrant students and in-state tuition," is full of baloney. In the first place, an illegal immigrant should not be graduating from our high schools. In the second place, they are not residents, so certainly should not receive subsidized schooling by Colorado taxpayers. I also disagree with all the arguments as to why we should make all the illegals legal. That's just another way to buy some more Democratic votes while the illegals make our country worse. I am not a xenophobe nor do I hate Hispanics or any other ethnic group, but I am convinced the continuation or exacerbation of present policies is a mistake and detrimental to our country. Dave Miller, Sedalia Something needs to be done about INS - Aurora Sentinel, August 17, 2002 I am writing in regards to an Aug. 9 story about an Iranian-born illegal immigrant who has been arrested after allegedly posing as an immigration agent to arrest a fellow countryman and search his apartment. This story speaks volumes about how the US government, from the president to the "customer-friendly" INS, has sold out the American people to runway immigration and ramped criminality. Convicted criminal and illegal alien Bahadori is an INS "customer" with a business in Colorado Springs. He is on probation with a major criminal record, and he is on the loose, allegedly with a gun committing multiple felonies. Today, criminal aliens like Bahadori make up more than 25 percent of our federal prison system and they are its fastest growing segment. Last year congressman Hal Rogers, R-KY, reported the INS over the previous five years had released into an unsuspecting American population more than 35,000 criminal aliens, more than one-third of whom went on to recommit major crimes, including 98 murders, 44 kidnappings and 142 sexual assaults. But all we hear from the U.S. governmental officials is "Diversity is our strength," as it continues to pile upon us millions and millions of outsiders whose numbers are riddled with leaches, con artists and dangerous criminals. For the heretofore not convinced that the government would allow this illegal-alien criminal to continue on in our country, owning an business and on probation, should make you see that the government has sold us out. Have you noticed how the leaders of the two major national political parties are in a protracted struggle over which party can be the first to legalize the presence of the eight to 11 million criminal aliens who broke into our country and who commit multiple crimes to perpetuate themselves here, in spite of the polls which show 85 percent of Americans want no such privileges extended to illegal aliens? Lord help those politicians if and when the American people wake up to this undemocratic frontal assault on our lives and sensibilities. Linda Lou Roy Mr. Growth, Mr. Pavement - Louisville Times, August 15, 2002 They call you Mr. Pavement and Mr. Growth for good reason. You're pushing hard to keep adding population to this state. With this drought with only 4 million people, I'd like you to think 48 years ahead when the full fruits of your labors give us another 4 million to give future residents 8 million neighbors in our state. At that time, when we have a drought, it's going to be a HUGE party disaster. I'd like you to draw up plans for the future governor of Colorado so he will prepared to feed and water the livestock that is feeding the 8 million of us. I'd like you to draw up plans for somehow creating water supplies for that extra 4 million by, perhaps, damming the clouds! And how will you tell the future governor how to handle the air pollution and ozone problems in 2040? How about the waste management of millions of pounds per hour? Please draw up some plans on how that future governor can give us clean air and uncongested highways. Won't it be fun going skiing with another 4 million Colorado citizens heading to ski resorts? Plus, you might suggest how he can get back, at 100,000 acres developed each year for 48 years- how he can reclaim the 5 million acres under concrete in Colorado. By the way, that's a pad of concrete 88 miles square. Finally, how about the animals that will most definitely be forced out of their dens onto concrete pavement without any habitat for eating and raising their young? Maybe you could suggest petting zoos for the thousands of animals who escaped extinction by being placed in zoos to represent the last of their kind. I'm sure there are many more 'contingency plans' you could think up and I'll help you because I've traveled through China and India. Keep up the great work Mr. Pavement, er, Growth; we need more and more growth because it's good for us. Your wise leadership will make a huge difference to that added 4 million Coloradoans in 2050. FROSTY WOOLDRIDGE, Louisville, CO Shake some sense - Colorado Springs Independent, Aug 15, 2002 John Hazlehurst's recent Outsider columns about growth have been rich in well-rounded words, which resonate with this old Californian. He has noted that growth addicts (i.e. a coalition of moneyed developers) feed the growth machine, which is a parasitic growth on a desert ecosystem. Our future? Dusty, treeless cities simmering in the heat of the new American desert. Millions scuffling to make a living, while the rich live in green and guarded enclaves. Dark as those words are, they just barely touch the outer edges of what we poor working stiffs have to look foreword to - unless we take our leaders and officials and representatives by the scruff of the neck and shake some common sense into their money and vote-addled brains. With Independence Day just past, and 9/11's bloody terror still fresh in our minds, hopefully enough Westerners will drink from the well of historical willingness to make hard choices and shape our present and future to forestall John's dark words. In his columns, I didn't see the dreaded "I" word. Immigration legal and illegal is at the wheel of the population and growth juggernaut that is eating our open spaces and cropland, crowding our schools and hospitals, and despoiling the West that we love. Colorado's population will double in the next 25 years along with most of the West. Arizona's, Nevada's and California's populations will triple, and California's population will exceed the population of the entire West in 25 years, at present growth rates. You think we're greedy, officious neighbors now? The ruthless push/shove of a real water war hasn't even started. And even rich, green enclaves will feel the result of their greed and our sapless silent compliance. We are a nation of immigrants, you say? So were our grandparents and theirs and they knew enough to harness that river and slow the flow from time to time. We haven't followed their example for 40 years, and the time is close when any changes will be moot. The damage will have been done. Time for each Joe and Jane to become activists with our time, and money to support those who see the future writ dark in the smog and to oust those who see only visions of newly-minted voters and "cheap" labor for big contributors. Barbara Vickroy Call 'em what they are - Colorado Springs Independent, August 15, 2002 In the Independent article entitled "Don't Leave Home Without It" (August 1-7) reporter Terje Langeland described how Colorado Springs law enforcement agencies are the first in Colorado to recognize Mexican issued identification cards. While the article was generally well written, it clearly contained blatant politically correct bias that detracts from the reporter's credibility. Bias was abundantly clear when Langeland used the misleading term "undocumented immigrants." The correct term is "illegal aliens." Using "undocumented" means foreigners have the unconditional right to violate America's borders and immigration laws. Also, immigrant, a Census Bureau category, means permanent residency, which does not always apply to transient illegal aliens who frequently cross our porous border. The Independent and Americans should respect our rule of law by using the proper term "illegal alien." Further, although Terje correctly stated that Colorado law enforcement officers do not enforce immigration laws, a recently enacted federal initiative allows state and local officers to enforce immigration laws. Florida will be the first state, under INS Section 133, to allow state and local law enforcement officers to arrest and detain suspected illegal aliens. It is ludicrous that nearly all immigration lawbreakers are now usually set free, regardless of the danger or circumstances. Colorado should enact INS Section 133 so immigration law violations, which have reached epidemic proportions, are enforced. David W. Caulkett If you don't know English, don't vote - Rocky Mountain News, Aug 14, 2002 www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/opinion/article/0,1299,DRMN_38_1323916,00.html Knowledge of English is a requirement for citizenship and, therefore, voting. So it is ridiculous that taxpayers must spend millions of dollars to create the print version of the Tower of Babel every election. One can imagine the origin of such ill-considered policy in the familiar pandering shenanigans of politicians, most of whom would raffle off the Constitution for a few votes. In addition, foreign-language speakers who are employed translating the documents churned out by government must comprise a growing voting constituency. With government facing huge budget deficits, however, such foolishness is totally unacceptable. If someone cannot understand the ballot in English, then that person has no business voting, and the Voting Rights Act should be amended to reflect that idea. Brenda Walker, Woody Creek Odd that imperiled miners aren't illegals - Rocky Mountain News, Aug 14, 2002 www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/opinion/article/0,1299,DRMN_38_1323916,00.html The recent successful rescue of nine Pennsylvania coal miners trapped for days below ground transfixed the nation. Scenes of freezing, filth-covered men emerging from the rescue shaft thrilled us. Reporters on location spoke in almost reverent appreciation of these men and the risks they take daily. And yet, none of these miners appeared to be an illegal alien. That must come as a shock to editorial boards around the country who tell us that mass immigration is necessary, because immigrants do the "dirtiest and most dangerous" jobs in America - "jobs Americans won't do." On the contrary, this dangerous and dirty work is still done by Americans because the wages for miners are relatively high, well above the average for all other industries. Rightfully, industry must pay higher wages to those who do dirty and dangerous work - unless, of course, industry can hire illegal aliens, as they did in the meat-packing industry. Beginning in the 1970s, union- busting corporations began importing illegal immigrants to do the packing - even sending buses to the border to ferry illegal immigrants back to the packing houses. Now those jobs are little more than minimum-wage jobs, and the immigrants who fill them dare not complain since there are always others to replace them. Americans were tossed out on the street and, insultingly, they later had to pay higher taxes for more classrooms, health care and other services required by their new neighbors in radically changed communities. As Voltaire observed, "The rich will always require an abundant supply of the poor." Craig Nelsen, Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform, Lakewood (Also published in the Glenwood Independent, www.glenwoodindependent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Site=GP&Date=20020806&Category=LETTER&ArtNo=208050005&Ref=AR) Discussion ignores most salient point - Rocky Mountain News August 1, 2002 The public discussion of singer Chad Brock's comments in Greeley has ignored the most meaningful aspect: the poisoning of the future of the United States. Hispanic leaders, civic leaders, law enforcement, many business people, and too many ordinary people are participating in the violation of U.S. immigration (and many other) laws that underlies the language issue. Millions of people illegally come to the U.S. They are aided and abetted by people already here. An ever-growing number of people are violating U.S. law, exploiting desperate people, leaving a legacy of greed and forcing the U.S. into an overcrowded future. We must insist our laws be obeyed and enforced. Hispanic leaders must turn in illegal aliens. Civic leaders must demand prosecution of businesses that use illegal aliens. Law enforcement must enforce the law and shame the Immigration and Naturalization Service into doing its job. Ordinary people must act before we leave a legacy of corruption, oppression and overcrowding. BRUCE BAKER, Broomfield, CO Defining dumb growth - Denver Post July 21, 2002 Re: "Words that mean a lot," July 14 Al Knight column. Al Knight hit the nail on the head. My definition for "smart growth" is "an urban mess managed by a bunch of people who think they are really smart but really aren't." Those public officials who believe that packing more of us into smaller spaces is a good idea have obviously never observed the difference between two rats in a cage and two dozen. The only way to avoid crowding and resource allocation problems altogether is to curb the mass immigration that is fueling our rapid growth. Responsible leaders owe it to those of us who wish to preserve a decent quality of life for ourselves and our kids. MARK A. MENDLOVITZ, Los Angeles, CA Illegals are illegal - it's that simple - Rocky Mountain News, July 20, 2002 and Colorado Daily, July 8, 2002 No question about it, an opinion-editorial (Rocky Mountain News, July 2) by King Feature's Syndicated columnist, Maria Elena Salinas, "Illegal or not, immigrants need driver's license," wins the "Booby Prize of the Year." If I hire an illegal immigrant (her "undocumented" immigrant), should not the illegal immigrant I hired be granted a driver's license?, she asks. As ridiculous as her question is, I will try to dignify it with a logical reply. First of all, if I knowingly hired an illegal alien I should be punished by our Immigration and Naturalization Service. Is America not a nation of laws, and not of men? Second, the illegal immigrant who asked me for a job should -if we are indeed a nation of laws-be ordered out of the country as immediately as humanely possible. If necessary he should be escorted out by authorities. The fact that he may have lived and worked here for years-illegally- compounds his guilt, not absolves it. The fact that there are eight million or more illegals in the country does not absolve the Immigration service from its duty to enforce the law. Nor does the fact, often referred to, that most illegal immigrants work well absolve them from breaking our law. (Since when does working well, even for years, excuse anyone from his or her flagrant violation of our nation's laws?) The fact that both major political parties have been playing politics in a nasty fight for Hispanic votes does not excuse our open disrespect for the law. A poll of Latinos, dated October 16, 2000, reports that a plurality of Latin Americans (43%) believes that our federal government is too lenient on illegal immigration. Charles King Illegals don't 'deserve' anything from U.S. - Rocky Mountain News, July 11, 2002 Why does an illegal who sneaked across the border deserve a driver's license, much less anything else? In her July 2 column, "Illegal or not, immigrants need driver's license," columnist Maria Elena Salinas makes the assumption that illegal immigrants are forced to drive without a license, without insurance and without training. Who exactly twisted whose arm? Who forced them across the border illegally in the first place? She says that uninsured motorists cause 14 percent of all accidents in this country and cost the insurance companies more than $4 billion per year. Guess what? Americans pay for that in insurance premiums. If there were not so many illegal immigrants driving illegally, each and every law-abiding motorist would realize a reduction of almost 20 percent in their premiums. Salinas also asserts that illegals contribute to this country's economy. Maybe I missed something, but when it costs the American taxpayer $55,200 per illegal immigrant, that sounds real close to either a subsidy or a deficit. And when one adds the $23 billion per year this country spends on illegal immigrants for free health coverage, the $10 billion per year the illegals remove from our economy and, the $8 billion the Justice Department spends to incarcerate illegal immigrants, then the numbers just do not add up. MICHAEL BROWN. Morrison, CO Latinos not a bloc - Denver Post, July 11, 2002 Re: "GOP boosts its push to woo Latino voters," July 1 news story. The article describing the efforts of both political parties to woo Latino voters did a great disservice to all Latino Americans. It implied that the most important issue was amnesty for illegal aliens. However, over half of all Latinos, even recent immigrants, understand that this would further undermine American workers. In addition, a majority of Latinos are against the current high levels of legal immigration. Contrary to the common stereotypes, Latinos vote for what is best for their families and for America and not as a mindless ethnic bloc. RHONDA ROSETO, Westminster, CO Catching absconders - Rocky Mountain News, June 6, 2002 The U.S. government admits to not knowing the whereabouts of 314,000 absconders - criminal aliens ordered deported but who didn't leave. The Immigration and Naturalization Service says it does not have the personnel to find and deport all the absconders, so here's my suggestion: bounty hunters. Bounty hunters already go after other criminals, so why not a special class of bounty hunters to go exclusively after absconders? In fact, if we make the pay low, the conditions poor and the benefits nil, we probably would attract illegal aliens to do the job. Then we could toss both the absconders and the illegals out in one slick move. What do you think? Milo Hauss, Basalt, CO Drought's key factor: state's explosive growth - Rocky Mountain News, May 18, 2002 Once again we have a situation here in Colorado in which not all the dots are connected. Yes, we do have a drought and, yes, vast numbers of us do not practice water conservation. But the most important factor is our explosive population growth. Colorado residents need to see the future as it will appear if we don't manage our growth now. According to the Census Bureau, the state's population grew 48 percent between 1990 and 2000. It is estimated that the population will nearly double again in the next 22 years. In an area such as ours, in which we depend upon artificial irrigation for our crops and lawns, water is a precious resource that will only stretch so far, even in a year with adequate snowfall. We can and must regulate new home construction. We can and must attend to the fact that many are here illegally from other countries. We can and must save what is left of Colorado for our children. Rhonda Roseto, Broomfield, CO Fox in the henhouse - Rocky Mountain News, May 17, 2002 I got a big kick out of Donna L. Lipinski's May 13 letter, "Tancredo just plain wrong on immigration." What Lipinski failed to reveal is that she is an immigration lawyer. Immigration lawyers have been frenzy feeding on mass immigration for more than 30 years. Like drug addicts, any real or perceived threat to their drug source and stash causes immigration lawyers to get all panicky and hostile. Immigration lawyers should never be consulted on matters as important as what to do about runaway immigration, just as the fox should not be consulted about what to do about the chickens. It's no wonder Lipinski conveniently forgot to identify herself as one of the foxes. Go Tancredo! Paul Charmichael, Aspen, CO Laughable statement - Canyon Courier, May 15, 2002 As a registered Republican, I couldn't agree more with Jan Herron's letter-to-the-editor challenging Colorado's Republican Party suit Alan Philp's laughable statement that congressman Tancredo's position on illegal aliens is not the opinion of most Republicans. Fact is, Tancredo's position is wholly consistent with that of most Americans - Republicans, Democrats and whatevers. Equally galling was the fact that unelected White House political commissars telephoned Tancredo and read him the riot act. Following is a portion of the text of a fax I sent to one such character, Karl Rove, and Alan Philp should take heed: "Dear Karl Rove: We in Colorado are very proud of our congressman Tancredo. When it comes to immigration, he speaks for the majority of Americans and Coloradans, as shown in every respectable poll taken during the last 10 years. Who we elected to represent us in congress and why we elected him is our business...[so]... Butt the hell out of our business!" Mike McGarry, Aspen, CO Missing the point on immigration - Denver Post, May 12, 2002 Under the heading,"Wide differences on immigration policy require an honest , open dialogue" (The Open Forum., May 5), The Post indeed printed letters for and against open borders. The two letters by Ed Romero and Jose Gallegos, representing the open-borders side utterly fail to address the issue. Gallegos suggested that all Americans should unite in providing jobs for "undocumented workers" (read Hispanic-American illegal immigrants) in our country. Why? He doesn't say. Jose Gallegos wants U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo removed from office for objecting to President Bush's sadly misguided efforts to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants in this country. He falsely accuses Tancredo of opposing open borders "only with Mexico, not Canada." Security of the Canadian border has been tightened since 9-ll, and I am sure that Tancredo supported that move. How many Canadian citizens have come here illegally, and remained here illegally in all our history? Tancredo is exactly the kind of representative we need in Congress, the kind sadly in short supply there. Charles King Hiring 'illegals' hurts Americans - The Boulder Camera, May 11, 2002 How very kind of the Daily Camera to reassure employers that violating immigration law is nothing but a mere technicality for which they will suffer little consequences ("Letters make illegals nervous," Local News, May 5). Actually, subsection (a)(1)(A) or (a)(2) of the federal immigration law states that "Any person or entity which engages in a pattern or practice of violations shall be fined not more than $3,000 for each unauthorized alien with respect to whom such violation occurs, imprisoned for not more than six months' or both." This article was entirely one-sided. Reporter Justin George obviously only interviewed those people with a vested interest in seeing illegals remain, such as immigration lawyers and Latino help groups, although it occurs to me that such groups should still be more concerned with America than helping lawbreakers. Employing illegals is not a victimless crime. We in this area now have an unemployment rate of just under 6 percent. There are thousands of American painters, gardeners, drywallers, carpenters, etc. who are put out of a job every time an illegal is hired instead. The mantra of big business is that they do the work that no one else will do. This is simply untrue. The work they do no longer pays a living wage because of the endless supply of cheap labor. Illegals send much of their wages back home to Mexico where it goes a lot further than it does here. On the other hand, Americans must support a family on those wages. The American taxpayer is subsidizing the business of every employer who hires an illegal immigrant. It costs the taxpayer a net average of $55,000 over the lifetime of an illegal immigrant in terms of social services, health care and educational programs used. So every time you think you're just making a sound business decision by hiring cheap labor, think again. Rhonda Roseto, Broomfield, CO Missing the issues - Denver Post, May 5, 2002 Under the heading,"Wide differences on immigration policy require an honest , open dialogue" (Sun., May 5), the Post indeed printed letters pro- and con-open borders. The two letters by Ed Romero and Jose Gallegos representing the open-borders side of the illegal immigration issue utterly fail to address the issue. Gallegos irrelevantly rambles on, finally suggesting that all Americans should unite in providing jobs for "undocumented workers" (read Hispanic-American illegal immigrants) in our country. Why? He doesn't say. Jose Gallegos wants Congressman Tom Tancredo removed from office for objecting to President Bush's sadly misguided efforts to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants in this country. He falsely accuses Tancredo of opposing open borders "only with Mexico, not Canada." Security of the Canadian border has been tightened since 9-ll, and I am sure that Tancredo supported that move. How many Canadian citizens have come here illegally, and remained here illegally in all our history? Obviously, Tancredo opposes "open borders," on any side but the problem by far, as we all know, is our 2,000-mile-plus border with Mexico. Tancredo is exactly the kind of representative we need in Congress, the kind sadly in short supply there. And, oh yes, the Post cartoons, especially the one that shows somebody holding a sign (on the American side) over our border fence saying "Hiring Today" also reveals a leading but irrelevant "argument" (no argument at all) for permitting illegal immigration. I concede that illegal immigrants work well. So what? Are they not still breaking our national laws? And the fact that they are for the most part from neighboring Mexico in no way makes them any less illegal than were they to come from the other side of the globe. Are we a unique nation or are we not? That's supremely relevant to the issue. Charles King American most sacred duties? - The Colorado Statesman, May 3, 2002, and Colorado Daily, May 12, 2002 Is not the defense of America's borders one of an American president's most sacred duties? Is our nation not one of laws, not of men? Is President Bush not our nation's chief law officer? Is not Congress and our Supreme Court not also our chief guardians of national law? During his recent visit to China I heard the President proudly tell his audience at a Chinese university that the Statue of Liberty holds aloft in her right hand a torch of liberty, and in her left, a book of law? We are nation of free people but one, he pointed out, dependent upon law for the freedom and prosperity we enjoy. It is distressing to know that the same Bush, though not suggesting that our laws be ignored, is pushing for a way to circumvent our immigration and naturalization laws for an untold number of Mexican immigrants here illegally. It is likewise distressing to read the utterly unprincipled attack on Congressman Tom Tancredo in lhe leading editorial in Sunday's Denver Post (April 28). Why? Simply for opposing Bush on his tragically misled policy on immigration. In its vile attempt to discredit Tancredo, incredibly editorialist descends to outright deception, calling, for example, the Congressman's position "anti-immigrant." Tancredo is, like almost all American citizens, not at all anti-immigrant or anti-immigration. But he is simply against uncontrolled and illegal immigration into this country. He believes that our immigration laws should reflect our national interests, and that they should be faithfully executed. What does the Post find objectionable in that? The number of illegal immigrants here now numbers between eight and eleven million. The Congressman should be applauded by the Post and all Americans for his efforts to preserve this nation from the dangers of flooding this country with illegal immigrants-from any country. The Post's editorial irrationally refers to the "nativist sentiment" of the middle of the 19th century in a stupid attempt to smear Congressman Tancredo with the term. He is, of course, not a "nativist" in any sense of that word. On the contrary, he is a patriotic American who wants, as do at least two thirds (maybe 90 percent) of all American citizens (and legal residents here) to preserve the best in our national political-social-and cultural heritage. He wants our immigration laws to protect America's best interests, including our national security and sovereignty, and not to sell out those interests for a few paltry votes from employers profiting from the relatively cheaper labor of illegal immigrants. If illegal immigrtion is allowed to continue, as it has in the past two or three decades, it will undermine the very heritage that has made America great-and prosperous, the primary magnet drawing illegal immigrants here. Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt said it best-in a time of very low immigration, decades ago: "The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities." With the growing racial and ethnic divisiveness nurtured by corrupt affirmative action programs, maintenance bilingual education, bilingual ballots, multicultural programs in our universities, the constant playing of the race card, and the outright de-Americanization in our public schools, we are indeed not far from being "a tangle of squabbling nationalities." Charles King Shaking with anger - The Canyon Courier (Evergreen, CO) May 2, 2002 and Timberline Times, May 2, 2002 I am shaking with anger at the unmitigated gall of Alan Philp of the Colorado Republican Party who had the nerve to say most Republicans in Colorado do not support Congressman Tancredo's position on illegal immigration. Obviously, Mr. Philp is clueless or he has not been around any Republicans lately - or American citizens, for that matter. There are many of us who support Congressman Tancredo's position 100%. President Bush has appointed James Ziglar - a man who has publicly admitted in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that as an ideological libertarian he has a hard time with the idea of borders - to head the INS. And President Bush repeatedly pushes for amnesty for illegal aliens who have broken our laws. When President Bush views illegal immigration he sees voters. He has his eyes on the prize, California, Texas, Arizona, Florida, etc. This nonsense has got to stop. We are being invaded and our government is aiding and abetting illegal aliens. Many American citizens can't afford health insurance for their families, yet every day in this country illegal aliens are the beneficiaries of free medical care and we the American people are paying for it. Obviously we cannot depend on the government to stop this tide, the only politician that is actively fighting illegal immigration is Tom Tancredo. We are fed up with being ignored and with all of the obvious adverse effects of this invasion to American society! Janice M. Herron, Evergreen, CO Tancredo speaks truth, serves the greater good - Rocky Mountain News, April 27, 2002 Anathema! Heresy! The nerve! Rep. Tom Tancredo speaks the truth ("Tancredo assails Bush policy," April 20) and the president's political commissar telephones the congressman and chews him out. The fact is, our borders are unprotected. Thousands of illegal aliens from all over the world, including those from countries that are terrorist hotbeds, transgress our borders daily. Combine that with our once-you're-here-you're-home-free policy of virtually no interior prosecuting of our immigration laws, and we've got trouble. National politics are a disgrace. Both the Democrats and the Republicans care only about perpetuating their respective parties, completely disregarding the American people while they do. President Bush wants to force illegal aliens on us while Americans - by 2-to-1, as shown in polls - want no such thing. What we want seems not to be a concern of the political elites. Tancredo must indeed bewilder Republicans and Democrats alike: a politician who eschews the party line for the greater good of the American people. Unheard of. Linda Lou Roy, Snowmass, CO See related letters: this year, 2003, 2001, and 2000 - many are excellent. 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