Sensible immigration

The New Mexican article (“A frightening place to wait,” July 28) that began a series on dangers facing noncitizen migrants at our southern border has the wrong focus. Focus on the fact that requiring asylumseekers and others wanting to enter the U.S. to wait in Mexico avoids creating family splits, by making sure any baby a migrant mother has does not become a U.S. citizen simply because he or she is born in the U.S. while the migrant awaits a court hearing. Since most of these migrants appear to be economic migrants, even though they claim asylum, requiring them to apply for asylum in Mexico makes sense. Doing away with family reunification, requiring some fluency in English and requiring some degree of education for immigrants makes sense. While entering the U.S. legally is hard, it is the right thing to do.

Thomas J. King Jr. Santa Fe