Letters to the editor: Protect legal residents

Letter to the Editor

Protect legal residents

Archbishop Thomas Wenski's column ("Stop punitive acts against our migrant brothers and sisters," Other Views, April 27) is a prime example of why I left the Catholic Church. The church preaches a progressive liberal agenda.

Even though this is a simplistic example, state illegal immigration laws are the same as the laws of the nuns who taught me. If a student caused a disruption or was doing something wrong and did not own up to it, the entire class was punished. The student who caused the punishment was then ostracized by the class because we all had to pay for their actions.

Illegal immigration is no different. We all have to pay in the form of higher taxes and health-care costs to cover their welfare, Medicaid, the education of their children and their abuse of emergency rooms. The state's laws are sovereign, just as the nuns' laws in the classroom.

The federal government is charged with securing our borders, which it is choosing not to do; therefore, the states have the onerous task of securing the sovereignty of their borders and protecting their legal residents.

Annette Weeks

Hudson

Let church pay

After reading Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski's piece ("Stop punitive acts against our migrant brothers, sisters," Other Views, April 27), I felt compelled to respond. I have been a practicing Catholic my entire life and am disgusted with the leaders of the Catholic Church for encouraging "undocumented" immigrants to break our laws. If the Catholic Church is harboring "undocumented" immigrants, it is against federal law.

If the Catholic Church wants "undocumented" immigrants to work and live in Florida, then the church needs to reimburse the taxpayers for their education, incarceration and emergency room care.

Let's start with the incarceration of over 5,000 "undocumented" immigrants that costs the taxpayers over $140 million per year. How about the emergency room costs of over $100 million per year? And last, but not least, how about the billions to educate their children?

Florida is in a fight for survival with a $3 billion to $4 billion budget deficit. It is outrageous to think Archbishop Wenski would condone "undocumented" immigrants breaking our laws and bankrupting our state.

Betty Dobson

Brooksville

Insurance increase

My homeowner's insurance with State Farm went from $1,751 a year to $2,575 a year. I called my agent and was informed that a 28 percent rate hike had been approved for State Farm. My calculator works quite well, and I determined that my premiums had actually been increased 47 percent. Like so many other Floridians, we were just scraping by, and this hike would have put us under. So, we signed up with Citizens Property Insurance Corp. to help us survive. But now a proposal is in the works to raise the cost of Citizens coverage, too.

Instead of raising the cost of Citizens, what if some effort was made to rein in State Farm and their ilk? Because if lawmakers make our insurance more than we can afford, there will just be another foreclosed house on the market — mine.

Glenn Housel

Wesley Chapel

"No" vote saves dogs

Senate Bill 1594 eliminates greyhound racing but provides no safety net for these dogs that will die by the thousands. Please call your state legislators to protest.

John Willier

Inverness

"Yes" vote saves dogs

I have personally adopted beloved ex-racing greyhounds since 1997 and see that the Florida House has passed a bill on greyhound racing. Passage of Senate Bill 1594 would similarly remove mandatory live-race dates and give track owners the option to reduce or eliminate live greyhound races, while other forms of gambling now being offered would not be affected.

From 1990 to 2010 the amount gambled on dog races in Florida has decreased 69 percent and the amount of taxes collected by the state for live greyhound racing has declined by more than 96 percent. This represents a significant cost to taxpayers and track operators and confirms the increasing public opposition to greyhound racing due to humane concerns such as confinement and injuries.

Floridians can help thousands of greyhounds by supporting the Senate bill. Please contact your state senator, and ask for a "yes" vote on greyhound decoupling.

Caryn Wood

Gilbert, Ariz