The NY Times published a letter of mine on immigration laws today. The following is a copy of the letter. I was responding to a guest editorial by Reece Jones titled “Immigration Laws’ Racist Legacy.”

To the Editor:

Re “Immigration Laws’ Racist Legacy,” by Reece Jones (Opinion guest essay, Nov. 1):

Our nation’s guilty conscience for laws and actions of the past should not be the basis of badly needed immigration reform. After all, the stain of the past was often directed at specific races.

Our lawmakers must decide how many people can immigrate to our country each year. Open borders are disruptive, expensive and harmful to Americans who need assistance. Money used for undocumented immigrants is money that could be used to subsidize poor Americans, including the aid being proposed in Congress today.

Many Americans who are not xenophobic want the crisis on our southern border to end, not because they hate one group of people or another, but because millions of people are entering the country illegally.

The essay suggests that the United States accept the unprecedented illegal immigration on our southern border because of actions that took place long before most of us were born.

Salvatore J. Bommarito
New York