‘Nativist’ point doesn’t work

Re “A wrong turn in N.Y.,” editorial, Nov. 10

The editorial makes excellent points in favor of allowing an illegal immigrant to be issued a driver’s license, but it falls flat when it attempts to invalidate the opponents. The editorial contends that “nativists . . . want to make driver’s licenses a validation of citizenship rather than evidence of having passed a driving test.” The truth is that people will end up accepting the driver’s license as identification for all purposes, including proof of citizenship.

Experience with Social Security numbers tells us that a unique identification scheme will be used for whatever makes life easier. Social Security cards have become de facto national ID cards. So the difficult social trade-off remains: Is it better to try to limit or reduce the illegal immigrant population by making it hard for them to exist here, or is it better to get illegal immigrants to conform to the rules that enable us all to peaceably coexist? Or is there a “gray” solution somewhere in between?

Tom Egan

Costa Mesa

The Times states that New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer succumbed to the cruelty of “nativists.” I’m sure that most Americans who are against giving rights and privileges to illegal immigrants resent your name-calling.

I am the grandson of immigrants. I proudly have their Ellis Island immigration documents framed on my office wall. I celebrate the fact that the U.S. allows more legal immigrants to settle here than any other country in the world. Immigrants have made this country better for their presence. However, I believe that immigrants should come to this country legally.

The Times and other apologists for illegal immigration find it difficult to argue against opponents of illegal immigration who focus on the immigrants’ illegal status. The Times resorts to name-calling in an effort to make us into something we are not. So please, don’t call us cruel nativists or worse. I doubt that if you were to stick to reason, logic and the rule of law, you’d be able to win over to your side the majority of Americans who oppose illegal immigration.

Sal Tarantino

San Diego