Police chiefs and immigration enforcement; Brazil’s new power abroad; and LAX’s upgrades

Not buying Beck

Re “ Arizona law faces federal challenges,” May 27

To paraphrase Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck, if illegal immigrants don’t come forward to report crime for fear they will be deported, the police will have a harder time solving crimes.

Isn’t it possible for people here illegally to report crimes anonymously? Wouldn’t upholding the law by sending illegal immigrants packing result in fewer crimes and less fear among legal citizens?

It has been reported that 70% of the voting public denounces amnesty, supports tougher laws against illegal entry into the United States and wants our borders secured. I have one word for the police chiefs like Beck and elected officials like Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. and President Obama come election time: adios!

John Broecker

Lake Forest, Calif.

I always knew that the police chief of a big city occupied a political position, but never has it been so apparent as today, as the LAPD’s Beck whines to the U.S. attorney general about how Arizona’s new immigration law would inhibit the police from doing their job.

I thought that enforcing the rule of law was the primary job of the police. I thought that conspicuous defiance of one law creates an atmosphere of disrespect for all laws.

I’ll wager the rank-and-file do not share Beck’s opinion.

Last month, Beck expressed reverence for the late, former Los Angeles Police Department Chief Daryl F. Gates. Gates was twice the man and half the politician Beck is.

Mark Aaron

Santa Monica

The problem is that the law will “break down the trust between victims and witnesses,” claim police chiefs, including Beck.

Most of these crimes are committed by illegal immigrants. Get rid of the cause, not the “problem.”

Sandra Lewis

Los Angeles

Re “Fighting threats from within,” May 27

Our obsession in pursuing the politically correct course is hampering our efforts to deal with some of our biggest problems. We refuse to acknowledge that most illegal immigrants in Arizona are Latino, thus rendering any inquiry of a Latino concerning that issue “racial profiling.”

Now we find that in spite of the fact that the overwhelming number of terrorist attacks and attempted terrorist attacks in recent years in the U.S. have been perpetrated or planned by Muslim extremists, Homeland Security refuses to identify that group specifically in its efforts to deal with ideologies that pose a threat to our country.

Peter, Paul and Mary said (sang) it best: “When will we ever learn?”

Louis H. Nevell

Los Angeles

Help our jobless first

Re “Securing the border,” Editorial, May 27

Are you kidding? The Times writes of “addressing the broken immigration system, including making it easier for employers to hire foreign workers legally” as if it were a good thing.

Unemployment is how high — and you’re talking about making it even easier for employers not to hire American workers?

It’s already way too easy for any foreigner (except the endlessly vilified Mexican) to overstay a work or tourist visa and gain legal status. America’s immigration policy should be changed to protect American lives, jobs and workers, not try to present some image of Uncle Sam as Santa Claus to the world.

Susan Mijares

Lakewood

Brazil on the march globally

Re “Brazil’s foray as global player,” May 22

The Times makes an important point: Not only does Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva dislike the application of post-colonial European and U.S. economic power, he shuns the unilateral political power that those countries wield. Thus, as Brazil’s economic capacity has grown, Lula has used that force to expand his country’s diplomatic influence.

In recent years, he has led Brazil to create embassies in 30 African countries and has opened discussions with the Middle East. Lula is thus using Brazil’s growing economic and political thrust to pursue an agenda that reorients negotiations away from traditionally privileged countries.

Ultimately, however, The Times’ focus on Lula may be beside the point. Yes, Lula is charismatic and likable, but the overall trend of increased political clout is not due just to Lula but to Brazil’s rising economic power. Even with a new Brazilian president, this march to stardom is irreversible.

Sara Nawaz

Washington

The writer is a research associate at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs.

A better LAX, but still glitches

Re “LAX visitors get upgrade,” May 26

I agree that the remodeled Tom Bradley terminal is very nice. But for people entering the U.S., the bottleneck at immigration and customs remains.

I just returned from a trip to Vietnam, which we entered twice. Both times, I was impressed by the number of staffed kiosks — at least six at all times — at both immigration and customs. Service was very fast.

By contrast, when we entered at LAX, there were only two or, at times, three staffed immigration kiosks, with hundreds of people snaking through long lines and wait times of an hour whenever a flight arrived.

When I mentioned to the officer who helped me that he should tell his boss that they need more people, he gave me a dirty look. Furthermore, help, particularly signage, for non-English speakers is absent, as far as I could tell.

I understand that Vietnamese officials get paid much less and that budgets are tight. But the slowness and inconvenience gives visitors to the U.S. a very poor first impression.

David Datz

Altadena

Gardner made math come alive

Re “Martin Gardner, 1914 - 2010,” Obituary, May 26

It was with a mix of sadness and nostalgia that I read the obituary of Martin Gardner.

Ever since I was in the seventh grade in the early 1970s, I would read with relish his articles and books on mathematics, culled from the pages of Scientific American, and in time his works published elsewhere.

His writing style, always humorous and often set with amusing anecdotes, made an otherwise opaque subject the object of great fascination and wonder for me — one that continues to enliven and inform my perceptions to this day.

I encourage people of all ages, but the young especially, to explore his body of work. I guarantee that mathematics will never seem dull again.

S. Kenneth Kawano

Los Angeles

Helping hand for a scholar

Re “Ronald Gottesman, 1933 - 2010,” Obituary, May 22

You recently published a fine obituary to retired USC professor Ronald Gottesman. I would like to add my own appreciation. Ron mentored thousands of scholars. He was generous, kind and wise.

When I began working on Upton Sinclair as an unknown community college instructor, he saw no barriers to my entering the rarefied world of publishing and academic conversation. Like his subject, Upton Sinclair, he was a “paradigm of hope.” I will try to repay that trust in my own work.

Lauren Coodley

Napa, Calif.

The writer is editor, “Land of Orange Groves and Jails: Upton Sinclair’s California.”

Taxes and fees without end

Re “37% hike urged for ambulance service fees,” May 25

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the Los Angeles City Council have the same answer for every problem: just raise fees and taxes on the people.

Jon Konjoyan

Toluca Lake