To the Editor:

Re “The Immigration Wilderness” (editorial, Nov. 23):

It’s sad that anti-immigrant sentiments are now fast escalating in the United States, a country where election-year politicians sing praises of its history of immigration, assimilation and diversity.

Since the Senate immigration bill fell apart in June, right-wing xenophobia has added fuel to government persecution of people whose only crime has been their desire to live and work with dignity.

From a moral point of view, separating a mother from her breast-feeding child, raiding a factory and severing parents from their wages, and denying a working family its all-important driver’s license are anything but American.

All of the above are gross violations of civil and human rights—rights that we earned through centuries of struggle and sacrifice. How can we be so oblivious to that precious history?

Partha Banerjee
Brooklyn, Nov. 23, 2007

Note from KBJ: (1) I don’t know anyone who’s anti-immigrant. I know lots of people who are anti-illegal alien. It’s a simple distinction, really. Why so many people fail to grasp it is beyond me. (2) If those who opposed the immigration bill are xenophobic, then those who supported it (such as the letter writer) are xenophilic. Why would only one side of a debate such as this be improperly motivated? Either both sides are, or neither side is. Incidentally, many supporters of the immigration bill, such as President Bush and John McCain, are right-wingers. They are closer to xenophilia than to xenophobia. Maybe this is too subtle a point for the letter writer to grasp, or maybe it upsets his or her simplistic categories of “conservatives bad” and “progressives good.” (3) Is it persecution to expect people to obey the law? Let’s hope not. (4) What’s immoral is cutting in line. Most of us learned in kindergarten that it’s unacceptable. (5) If you’re in this country without permission, you have no civil rights. We’re going to track you down and deport you.