To the editor: Wait, what? A national emergency to carry out mass deportations? (“Trump confirms deportation strategy will include national emergency declaration and military,” Nov. 18)
If that is the case, and if President-elect Donald Trump as a national leader really believed it, he would have supported the conservative plan proposed by Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) earlier this year to begin to address that emergency.
But no, he didn’t want the problem solved. He wanted to campaign on it.
Why would I believe that he wants to solve the border problem now? Getting the military involved — a legally problematic strategy — would just allow him to accrue more dictatorial power.
How much will this cost the taxpayers? And once accomplished, what would be the cost to our economy? Millions of jobs may be left vacant with no one to fill them.
As a preview, we can look to China and Japan. For different reasons, their birthrates do not support the economy they want. If what I read is accurate, we are in a similar boat, yet what helps keep us prosperous is immigration, legal and illegal.
William Elmelund, West Hollywood
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To the editor: The Times should know by now from his first term that Trump, unlike most politicians, keeps his campaign promises.
From moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, to lowering taxes, to defeating Islamic State, to reducing job-killing regulations, to extending the U.S.-Mexico border wall, Trump delivers. That’s why he just got reelected.
Right now, he is sending a message to folks who want to cross illegally into the U.S.: Don’t bother.
Marcus Kourtjian, Northridge
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To the editor: I have a modest proposal, a la Jonathan Swift, for the politicians and citizens who voted for them and their desire to deport immigrants (whether legal or undocumented).
For each person slated for deportation, there has to be a documented individual or U.S. citizen prepared to take that person’s job (whether farm or factory worker, fast-food worker or any other employment). If a replacement person cannot be identified, then the individual targeted for deportation should be granted status to remain.
If, as I suspect, there are not lines of people desirous of filling these roles, the impact on our economy will be catastrophic.
David Esquith, Northridge
