Economics of Amnesty Proposals Don’t Add Up

Re “Stop ‘Coyotes’ With Border Reform,” by Frank del Olmo, Commentary, Nov. 9: What kind of “guest worker” program allows illegal aliens to earn legal residency? Guests go home.

What I don’t understand is, if there’s such a shortage of agricultural workers here, then why are wages so low and unemployment and poverty rates so high in places like Imperial and Tulare counties? There is already a perfectly good program called H-2A, which is a bona fide guest worker program, since the worker must leave after the harvest is completed. It also has hourly wage requirements. What open border advocates don’t like about this is that there is no amnesty provision.

Randle C. Sink

Brea

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I am tired of hearing all this claptrap about closing the border to illegal immigrants (good luck) and denying working people valid driver’s licenses. This country has always depended on immigration. If we are serious about stemming the flow of illegal immigrants we need to severely punish all businesses currently paying them. Not only would this stop a major reason illegals are entering this country, it would help us to evaluate their true economic effect, for better or for worse.

Michael Ochs

Riverside