Response to Illegal Aliens

I was disappointed in your article (July 29) on the angry response to illegal aliens. We thought that at last someone was going to speak for our cause! Instead, the article makes it sound like most of the people who don’t enjoy living alongside “those folks” are hypocrites, because they profit from hiring their cheap labor.

I know of no disgruntled Santa Ana homeowner who has illegal aliens working for him. In fact, I’m sure a few of the people around here would like to work over the oddball resident you dug up as an example of the rest of us. People like him are what lures the illegals to our town in the first place. We badly need a federal law that would make it a crime to hire undocumented workers.

Yet the official word, from the point of view of the media and of politicians at all levels--people who generally can afford to live away from the problem areas--is that immigrants, both legal and illegal, contribute more to our cultural heritage than they take away. Underneath the rosy picture of a country rejoicing over all aspects of our ethnic diversity are people who feel angry and alienated.

We are made to feel that the ugly picture we see developing around us is the illusion of our blind bigotry. Who is blind? Who else is a hypocrite?

ALICE VAN VLEET

Santa Ana