Illegal Immigrants

I would like to respond to John G. Bailey's letter accusing Del. Pat McDonough of scapegoating illegal immigrants for his complaint that Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and President Barack Obama are turning Baltimore into an amnesty city ("McDonough offers his usual scapegoat: immigrants," Dec. 21). I can only use anecdotal evidence, but since this summer I've seen various neighbors have a deck enclosed, a fence erected, landscaping planted and a new parking pad created, and in every case, the work was done by Hispanic immigrants working for white-owned companies.

As the election-year debate over illegal immigration heats up, Maryland National Guard members are preparing to deploy to Texas to help monitor the U.S.-Mexican border. Two crews from the 29th Combat Aviation Brigade will take high-tech helicopters to the southern tip of Texas in June to provide aerial surveillance to U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents on the ground, Guard officials said Wednesday. They will watch for illegal immigrants and drug smugglers — "basically, people crossing the border without authorization," said Lt. Col. Michael Whelan, commander of the 1-224th Aviation Security and Support Battalion.

Dan Rodricks used the example of an illegal immigrant who became a doctor and saved a woman's life to illustrate the wonderful asset illegal immigrants can be ("'Illegals' and the next economy," May 15). In the interest of fair and balanced commentary, I wish he would have compared the number of illegal immigrants who save someone's life to the number who commit violent crimes — like the "thrill-kill" murder of three New Jersey college students who were shot in the head in a school yard by an illegal immigrant.

Most Marylanders who oppose the Dream Act, which grants undocumented immigrants the resident tuition discount on a state college education, probably never met the likes of Onan Marroquin. If they did, they might have a change of heart and mind about the Dream Act. They might come to see it as the fair and smart way for the state to support the bright and highly motivated young people who come through our schools and who, with more education, might join the ranks of the state's innovative and future-thinking professional class.

Dan Rodricks ' recent column lacked a very important adjective in its headline. ("Immigrants: We detest them - and need them," June 30). It lacks the word "illegal. " But we know Mr. Rodricks agenda: He loves the word "undocumented" instead, as if that cleans it up. When an individual illegally crosses our borders, he or she is committing a felony. But we can't expect Mr. Rodricks to get that close to the truth. He says we need immigrants. Of course, we do. We always have.

Am I the only person in Maryland offended by the pictures of illegal immigrants, one on them on the front page, that appeared in your newspaper April 14? An individual illegally invades our state and country, breaks our laws and takes by force what others spend years to achieve legally and we celebrate this violation of law and borders with quotes and interviews while never questioning their right to be here? I wonder just when our elected officials were given the choice of what laws they choose to enforce.

Well done, Gov. Martin O'Malley! Illegal immigrants in Maryland can now attend state schools at the in-state resident tuition level while 350 deserving high school students have had their Distinguished Scholar award yanked out from under them. So, the state will save $1 million in 2012 by eliminating the Distinguished Scholar award and spend, on the low side, $3.5 million for benefits to illegal immigrants by 2016. If the $1 million-plus in tax dollars that goes to CASA de Maryland were rescinded, perhaps the taxpaying citizens of this state might get their due. Leamon Martin, Westminster

The Maryland Senate once again sold out to illegal immigrants by voting to allow their children to pay in-state tuition rates if they attend Maryland colleges and universities, and by doing so they have saddled the state taxpayers with millions in additional costs. Instead, the Senate should have done the right thing and reported these illegal immigrants to the authorities and gotten them and their children out of Maryland. It goes to show that the Maryland Senate is nothing but a bleeding heart group of idiots that failed to see that real Marylanders are still struggling to make ends meet.

I was surprised at the number of readers who wrote in to show their dismay at a bill that would give children of illegal immigrants in-state tuition at Maryland colleges. One reader went as far as to compare Maryland state lawmakers to Charlie Sheen. There were some readers who wrote in saying that we should "deport" these people instead of educate them. Others simply said they were criminals on whom we should not be spending any of our tax money. The apprehension these authors displayed is more of a testament to their intolerance than to their political leaning.

In a recent story on immigration, The Sun reported a statement by Democratic Rep. Donna F. Edwards that we "must focus on those posing an actual threat to our communities" ("Hoping for reprieve: Md. immigrants await new policy," Nov. 18). Regarding the upcoming pilot program in Baltimore and Denver, will DUI convictions be included? They should be considered a violent crime. Will fingerprints be run to see if any crimes have been committed under an assumed name? Being a gang member is not a crime, but how many gang members are going to be cleared by this pilot program?

The state's top court has agreed to decide if Maryland's Dream Act will be on the ballot this fall. The Court of Appeals said this week it will hear CASA de Maryland's appeal of a judge's decision to allow the referendum on the 2010 law. The court scheduled arguments for June 12. The controversial measure was designed to provide college tuition discounts to certain illegal immigrants. Opponents blocked the law from taking effect last year by obtaining enough signatures to bring it to a referendum.

Dan Rodricks ' column on what a boon to society illegal immigrants are noted the billions of dollars illegal immigrants pay into Social Security ("Welcome to Baltimore, no questions asked, March 27). But illegal immigrants aren't permitted to legally obtain Social Security numbers, so they are committing a crime when they use stolen Social Security numbers. Is Mr Rodricks endorsing identity theft or the theft of someone else's personal information? Or is this a right he reserves only for "honest, law abiding" illegals?

In his recent op-ed, "Sanctuary Baltimore, no questions asked" (March 26) Dan Rodricks wrongfully assumes that welcoming illegal immigrants will help increase Baltimore's tax base. But there is a consensus among nonpartisan economists that illegal immigrants are a fiscal drain on American taxpayers. A majority of illegal immigrants have less than a high school education and have well below average incomes. The National Research Council found that an illegal immigrant without a high school degree will impose a net cost on taxpayers of $89,000 over his or her lifetime.

A leading immigrant rights group has endorsed state Sen. Rob Garagiola in Maryland's competitive 6th Congressional District race. CASA in Action, the political arm of CASA de Maryland, announced Monday it had endorsed Garagiola in the April 3 primary against Democratic opponent John Delaney. Garagiola also picked up the support of state Del. Ana Sol Gutierrez, a Montgomery County Democrat.  The endorsements could be particularly important in November when a proposal to allow some illegal immigrants to receive in-state tuition rates will be on the ballot.

The third trial of two men accused of murdering three young relatives in a Baltimore apartment in 2004 was postponed for a second time Wednesday in the city's circuit court. A new trial date was not immediately set for defendants Policarpio Espinoza Perez, 30, and Adan Espinoza Canela, 25, though it will likely be sometime this summer, according to Judge Barry G. Williams. He attributed the delay to both sides in the case. The men, illegal immigrants from Mexico, have been in custody since their arrest nearly eight years ago. Their first trial ended in a hung jury, and the second resulted in convictions and life sentences that were overturned on appeal last year because of a trial judge's error.

The federal Secure Communities Program requires state and local law enforcement to inform the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency when they make an arrest so that ICE can determine whether the prints of the person in custody match those in a federal database indicating that person is in the country illegally ("Mayor seeks to allay fears of immigrants about police," March 2). But isn't it protocol for one law enforcement agency to inform another when there is a possibility that person is wanted by another agency or jurisdiction?

How much research and single-minded effort did it take for Dan Rodricks to find one illegal alien who has now (against enormous odds) become a Hopkins neurosurgeon ( "'Illegal' immigrants and the next economy?" May 15)? Has Mr. Rodricks conveniently forgotten about Adan Canela and Policarpio Perez (both illegal aliens) who were charged with the 2006 brutal murders of three Mexican children? Has he dismissed the multiple arrests of Juan Gonzales (an illegal alien)

I must say that I'm impressed with The Sun and the great wages it obviously must pay its employees. We have Michael Dresser who, for the last two weeks, has written several articles telling us how it's just dandy and about time that Maryland raised the tolls for all us poor folk. Never mind that most of these bridges and tunnels have been paid for several times over. What Mr. Dresser or some adventurous journalist should be doing is to finding out just how much money these tolls amount to, and then how much of that ends up paying for administrative bureaucracy.

Correcting the deceptions, vitriol and misinformation of the immigrant bashers posted on this page is a full time job for someone with more time on their hands than myself. But several recent posts contain logical fallacies that shouldn't be ignored. Letter writer Edward Kreinheder, for example, implies that illegal immigrants are recipients of government benefits ("Deport illegal immigrant lawbreakers," March 1). There are no government benefits available for illegal immigrants like Julio Cesar Ayala, the Salvadoran grandfather of six whose cover was blown when he responded to a family emergency by using a car and was caught driving without a license.

Letter writer Anita L. Feith writes that it's hard to believe that in 2012 access to contraception is in the spotlight of a national debate ("Standing up for contraception," Feb. 23). One reason Ms. Feith probably finds this hard to believe is because it isn't true. There is no national debate about whether to restrict access to contraception. The debate is about whether contraception should be paid for in the form of handouts from insurance companies or the government, both of which would pass along the cost to all consumers.