Originally published by The Washington Post
David Bier’s dissection of the impact of rescinding temporary protected status for Salvadorans was excellent [“Canceling TPS for Salvadorans won’t help U.S. workers,” Outlook, Jan. 14]. The administration unfortunately couldn’t care less about the damage Mr. Bier outlined. Whether by design or opportunity, canceling TPS is a pretext for this president to demand even stronger tactics against immigrants.
Should illegal immigration increase and should the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement be overwhelmed, this president will claim he was right all along about the alleged scourge of illegal immigration on the U.S. economy. That the damage would be because of his own actions in rescinding TPS would not be considered by Congress. House and Senate Republicans look to follow his lead, even if it runs the country into a great big wall.
Dan T. Kelly, Silver Spring
In his Jan. 16 op-ed, “The GOP chooses Trump’s racism,” Eugene Robinson asked the rhetorical question “Who can argue against merit?,” referring to the conservative GOP’s proposed merit-based immigration system.
A system that favors immigration of the wealthy or educated is, at its core, a zero-sum brain and wealth drain. America’s gain is, say, Norway’s loss. Encouraging the immigration of mostly one-percenters, whether from Norway or Nigeria, is a delusional view of American aspirations and “exceptionalism.” The likelier impact of such a policy would be for those countries viewed by the president as fecal cavities to lose their most talented and brightest. Our immigration system ought to encourage those who lawfully enter our country seeking opportunities denied them elsewhere.
Before attempting to craft any immigration reform, members of Congress might consider a ferry ride “retreat” between New York Harbor’s Liberty Island, where the Statute of Liberty stands, and Ellis Island, where, likely, forebears of many of those legislators arrived with little else in terms of worldly possessions or educational accomplishments. Those people, my Irish grandparents included, came to a United States that, however imperfectly, tried to live by Emma Lazarus’s words: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
James McKeown, Falls Church
Amid the outrage and insults over immigration sparked by our president comes the heartening story of Prabal Gurung from Nepal, showing us what richness our immigrants have brought to this country [“Forming his opinions,” Style, Jan. 16].
Mr. Gurung is not only a talented fashion designer but also an outspoken activist for positive change that would make Lady Liberty proud. Mr. Gurung’s “feminine feminism” philosophy shows the best of America and the panoply of diversity that once made the United States a beacon of hope in the world.
Committed agents of change such as Mr. Gurung from across this rainbow nation will eventually turn the tide of negativity and return the United States to its roots.
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