Granting Rights to Mexican Workers

Re “Keeping People Out Also Keeps Them In,” Commentary, July 8: If all President Vicente Fox of Mexico wants for his people to be able to cross the border and work in the U.S. is Social Security (read Medicare), legal visas (read rights of citizenship), union membership (read legislative power) and driver’s licenses (read free access to all of the United States), then stop pussyfooting around. Let Fox make a formal request to Congress for annexation to the U.S. and be done with it.

Peter Hochberg

Los Angeles

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Frank del Olmo is absolutely right in his portrayal of immigration historically. I totally agree that we should set up a guest worker program immediately. We could benefit from millions of Mexican workers who are young, healthy and hard-working. We need the workers. We don’t need their families. The problem is, the Democratic Party and the Hispanic chauvinists who dream of conquering the U.S. biologically want the immigrants to become citizens and stay. We will see whether racial competition or economic pragmatism carries the day.

Mike Burns

Bakersfield