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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 16, 2007

Not America's Job

Regarding "Status Causes Family Separation Anxiety" (front page, Nov. 13):

As I lay awake another night worrying about my wife's immigration visa finally being granted, I come to this article. It's a sad story about an illegal immigrant family who is being broken up piece by piece. Yet as my wife and I struggle to do all things legally, the de los Santos family and millions like them continue to break the law. And in the end they are rewarded with government cash and food stamps for coming here illegally and driving illegally.

Where is the help for working American citizens who obey the law? It is time for corrupt Third World governments to own their mistakes and take care of their people. This is not America's job.

DOUG DAIGLE

Tampa

Not Intended For Illegals

I couldn't agree more that our immigration laws should be changed.

First we should stop this idea that all children born on U.S. soil are citizens regardless of the status of their parents. We all know this is a distortion of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution which was passed to benefit the children of slaves, not children of people who climb over a wall.

I also feel sorry for this lady being separated from her husband, and I think she should be sent to Mexico immediately with instructions on how to apply for citizenship.

I know they are coming here for a better life, but I have a better idea. Why don't they have a revolution and straighten out their own country instead of handing Americans the bill?

GEORGE FOX

Apollo Beach

Amend Constitution

Our hearts go out to Mireya de los Santos, her family and others in similar circumstances.

While The Tampa Tribune front-page article focuses on changing the law to allow illegal foreign citizen parents of U.S. citizens to remain in the country to keep the family together, the focus needs to be on the U.S. Constitution. The source of the de los Santos problem is the law that grants U.S. citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil.

Congress needs to amend the Constitution to read that anyone born on U.S. soil has the same legal status as the mother so that children are not used by parents to leverage their stay in the United States.

RAY DORN

Sebring

Why 'Citizens By Birth'?

When my parents' parents came here from Greece decades ago - and ditto for my husband's grandparents who are Italian - in order to make a better life for themselves and their children, they had to apply to become citizens and go through the entire legal process.

They had to take a test in English even though when they came here they spoke very little of the language. They did not come here illegally to reap the benefits of this country and then have children in order to secure a place here for them! They had respect and honor.

Why is it that this mother of three, with another on the way, was even allowed to be in this country, and how is it that her children should be deemed "citizens by birth"? That is just not right.

CYNTHIA LaROSA

Largo

Shame On Latin Grammys

One of the winning musical groups at the recent Latin Grammys was a group called Calle 13 - 13th Street for those of us who still speak English. Upon accepting the award, the ensemble's spokesman made an impromptu speech (in Spanish, naturally) about illegal immigration. In his words, loosely translated here, "We are all Americans, no one will ever erect a barrier to us, no one can tell us we can't come here."

I do not follow this band, but I did catch some of the lyrics of the winning song. The chorus goes, "I will cross the border, without a passport, it's my sport," etc. This is precisely the arrogant, disrespectful attitude that has so many traditional Americans angry about this issue.

To think that some Latinos consider these narcissistic punks worthy of any award is surely a disappointment to mature Latinos. Shame on the Latin Grammys for that one.

KELLY RODRIGUEZ

Wesley Chapel

No Sympathy For Family

The article about the illegal alien mother is obviously meant to invoke sympathy for her plight. While I am sorry that her country has chosen to keep prosperity in the hands of a few and allow the majority of Mexicans to live in poverty, I have no sympathy for de los Santos and her husband individually.

Did they not know they were breaking the law when they entered America? And why should I, a law-abiding American, feel sorry for people who once here, continued to break the law by driving without a license? Why did they choose to have three children, with another one on the way, in a country they broke into, knowing that one day they could be deported?

SHARON LAM

Hudson

More Deserving Of Aid

Rarely does an article keep me up at night, but the story on Mireya de los Santos did the trick. I have no sympathy for someone who takes $624 per month of taxpayer money as an illegal immigrant. I know, the money is for the three children she bore in the United States, but that doesn't make it right. Sympathy should lie with the many Americans living like my father.

He is 81 years old. He was born in Indiana and proudly served in the Marines during World War II. He worked in a small factory, which offered no retirement, for over 50 years. He continued to work until he was 75 because Social Security wasn't enough to live on. He sacrificed to put all three of his daughters through college and take care of my mother, who was ill. Now he lives on less than $900 per month.

What I wouldn't give to allow him to have an extra $600 a month. He has more than paid his dues as an American citizen.

PEGGY HODSON

Ruskin

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