Crackdown instills fear in immigrants
Regarding “Immigrants hesitant on FEMA assistance” (Page One, Oct. 25): It pains me to hear about the fear in the immigrant community affected by the Sonoma County fires. It is sad to think about how the immigrants feel that their only options are to apply for Federal Emergency Management Agency aid or have their family separated after the agency shares its information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The FEMA application does not ask about immigration status, nor does the agency share applicant details with ICE, but with the Trump administration cracking down on immigration and ending Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, it makes sense that immigrants are fearful of the future. People come to the U.S. for new beginnings, but under the current administration, we have denied that right to many people. I think it is important to remember that we are a country of immigrants, founded by immigrants, and that we are now closing our doors to immigrants. Kelli Pang, San Jose
Hospital option
Regarding “Don’t shut down hospital” (Letters to the Editor, Oct. 26): Alta Bates Summit Medical Center is not completely shutting down as described by the letter writer. The Ashby campus of Alta Bates will be going through a transition that has not been completely described to date.
The Summit campus of Alta Bates is located in Oakland just 2 miles down Telegraph Avenue from the Ashby campus in Berkeley. The Summit campus is a full-service tertiary care medical center that is fully capable of caring for the needs of Berkeley residents. So, even if the Ashby campus is completely shut down (very unlikely), the residents of Berkeley still have a top-flight medical center available to them just 2 miles down Telegraph Avenue.
Brian Hite, Oakland
Filter out lead
Regarding “Lead alarm at S.F. schools” (Page One, Oct. 26): High levels of lead have been found in multiple public schools in the San Francisco Unified School District that harm our children’s health, possibly damaging the brain and nervous system. This is a call out to the San Francisco Unified School District to say there is not ever any safe level of lead that should be consumed by our kids. Why should we have to wait for tests to tell us if there are traces of lead in the drinking water?
It is absolutely necessary to take every preventative measure to ensure our kids are not being exposed to any lead, meaning installing water filters on all drinking fountains. I personally have five younger siblings who all attend public schools; if there were any chance that they could be exposed to lead, I would demand filters on every drinking fountain at their school. As a resident of San Francisco, it is my No. 1 priority, as it should be everyone’s, that our kids are safe at school. San Francisco Unified should get the lead out of the drinking water by the pediatrician-recommended threshold of 1 part per billion.
Aleena Church, San Francisco
GOP’s silence
The silence is deafening. With former President George W. Bush and two senators speaking out about the current president and what he is doing to the country, I ask myself, where are the other Republicans? Leonard Dorin, Lafayette
Don’t apologize
Regarding “Apology over anti-Semitic editorial cartoon” (Bay Area, Oct. 27): The Daily Californian has apologized for something that required no apology: an editorial cartoon that lampooned Alan Dershowitz for the hypocrisy of calling himself a liberal defender of Israel while ignoring the brutal oppression of Palestinians by the Israeli army.
And The Chronicle has taken the wrong side in the headline to the story, even though the article attributed that charge to Dershowitz and the UC chancellor. Dershowitz called the cartoon anti-Semitic because it caricatured and criticized him and showed an Israeli soldier shooting someone.
But the Israeli army is not the Jewish army, and Dershowitz does not represent all Jews. As a Jewish alumnus of Cal, I condemn Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, including incidents of shooting civilians in cold blood, and I condemn Dershowitz for, among other things, the way he acts as if any criticism of Israel is antiSemitic. Clyde Leland, Berkeley
Trump’s snake oil
Regarding “Why nearly half of electorate fell for snake-oil promises” (Insight, Oct. 22): While I commend Supervisor Joe Simitian on his quest for answers as to how Donald Trump won the presidency, calling him a snake oil salesman makes me wonder. After all, aren’t many elected officials selling their own brand of snake oil when they promise the electorate how much they can accomplish if we vote for them, and then invariably disappoint?
It seems to me that this time around, the American voters just bought a different brand of snake oil. Trump isn’t the only politician trying to sell the American public a bill of goods. Frank Pacelli, Foster City