Trailer tragedy
Reform needed
Regarding “Smuggling crisis” (Page A16, Thursday), the sub-headline “San Antonio deaths are another indication of the need to reform our immigration laws” is a good starting point. Those reforms may well include “new immigration laws, targeting employers who hire the undocumented or helping our neighbors to the south fight drug cartels that smuggle both narcotics and humans.”
A wall is a low-tech solution that will hardly deter coyotes who now “make use of GPS to cut unpredictable and hardto-find paths through ranches.”
There are two major problems preventing sensible, affordable immigration reform:
No. 1: Attitudes and actions of Democratic and Republican representatives and senators who are hellbent on proving Democrats can obstruct and delay any legislation supported by Trump, and Republicans can’t govern effectively even with a majority in both the House and Senate.
No. 2: A belief by many citizens, editorialists and politicians that the U.S. is a rich country that can accommodate any number of immigrants and refugees from other nations. According to the National Debt Clock, the U.S. is a debtor nation.
Until congressional members of both parties decide to accept their responsibilities and fiscal realities, there is no hope for immigration reform and little hope for the nation. Neil Stovall, Houston