Illegal Aliens

Re When the scholastic needs of our children are being met, our roads are in good repair, gang violence is an afterthought, healthcare is affordable for all legal Californians and the state has balanced its budget, then, and only then, should we consider providing dialysis, transplants and other such costly medical services to illegal aliens. The Times states that the number of California's illegal dialysis patients "is not large" and then follows with the eye-opening, one-year cost to taxpayers of $51 million.

Re "Bring order to the border," editorial, March 26 For years the mantra was "keep out illegal aliens -- they're stealing our jobs" while corporations were coyote-enablers to keep the unregistered workers coming. No one wanted to talk about the real horrors -- the drug and gun wars, with thousands being murdered -- even when they spilled over to our side of the border. Thank God for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's honesty and courage. Now if the United States can just get behind a coordinated security policy to help the Mexican people and our own. Bonnie C. Hanson Santa Ana :: As your editorial states, this is a binational problem.

Re "Get real on Real ID," Editorial, June 6 I think it's time for The Times to "get real" on Real ID. Think about it for a moment: If this passes, you're going to tell all the illegals to run down to their local DMV office (which will only be open between 10 and noon on alternate Tuesdays by then). News to The Times: Illegals don't want to give up their pictures, addresses or thumbprints. And one of the joys of license-free driving is insurance-free driving. Listen, if I'm inclined to hit-and-run, having a "license lite" isn't going to prevent me from running.

Re "California's hurdles," Opinion, June 25 Jerry Roberts' and Phil Trounstine's Opinion article lists Proposition 13 as the first factor that makes California impossible to govern. George Skelton still speculates on why voters rejected last month's budget propositions. Do they ever talk to regular voters? Proposition 13 gave the same message as last month's vote. California needs to live within the money it takes in. If that is not enough to provide the services that people need, the voters will elect people who will raise taxes.

Re "Tougher rules on policing migrants," Oct. 14 I did a double-take after reading the article. Rather than toughening enforcement of immigration laws, Washington is making it tougher for local police to report illegal immigrants so they can be deported. This is what passes for "immigration reform" in the looking-glass world of politicians and their journalistic cheerleaders at The Times. Kenneth Pasternack Santa Barbara :: I am mystified and upset by the new rules implemented by our government making it harder to deport illegal aliens.

Re "Death in the desert," Editorial, Oct. 27 It's not that "Mexico has failed to ... discourage migration." Mexican authorities, complicit with the corrupt oligarchies that keep them in power, have, in fact, encouraged migration north to conveniently remove a discontent-fueled revolt at home. Accepting or tolerating illegal migration will, therefore, perpetuate the status quo. The Mexican-flag-waving demonstrators we often see on newscasts ought to make their voices heard on the streets of Mexico City, not downtown L.A. The redeeming part of the editorial surfaced in the last paragraph with the observation that "Mexico must create the economic conditions for prosperity at home so that its citizens will stop risking their lives."

A federal judge has opened the door to a possible expansion of a lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. filed by illegal immigrant janitors who claim the retail giant violated labor laws. U.S. District Judge Joseph A. Greenaway Jr. in Newark, N.J., denied Wednesday a motion by Wal-Mart to dismiss the suit and instead approved the sending of court-approved notices to potential plaintiffs.

Mexican authorities are distributing more than 1 million copies of an illustrated handbook that gives migrants illegally crossing the U.S. border safety tips, suggesting that they carry enough water, follow railroad tracks and utility lines if they get lost and wear clothing that will protect them from the elements.

Immigration officials late Monday confirmed the departure to the Middle East of a prominent Islamic cleric whose fight to remain in the U.S. was championed by many Muslims in Southern California. Details on the departure of Wagdy Mohamed Ghoneim, an imam at the Islamic Institute of Orange County, were kept secret by the Department of Homeland Security until he had left New York for Qatar.

In a defeat for the Bush administration, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the government may not indefinitely imprison immigrants who cannot be deported, even if they are in the country illegally. The high court's 7-2 ruling means that about 920 immigrants, most of them Cubans, may be eligible to be released, according to the Homeland Security Department's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.