Readers React: The border rushers in Tijuana only help make Trump’s case for tighter border security

To the editor: The lawless behavior exhibited by the “asylum seekers” who rushed the U.S. border in Tijuana lends support to President Trump’s stance on border security.

The media have generally portrayed the Border Patrol’s use of tear gas on a surging crowd consisting of some children and women as heartless. But these children’s parents knowingly put them in harm’s way.

I have heard some commentators say that the crowd in Tijuana consists merely of a few thousand people who could be easily accommodated in the United States. But if we allow a raucous group of migrants to cut in line, we will encourage the formation of more U.S.-bound caravans in the future.

There is the issue of badly needed comprehensive immigration reform, but right now an open border cannot be an option for any sovereign nation.

John T. Chiu, Newport Beach

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To the editor: My grandfather was smuggled out of Germany in 1939 as an “unaccompanied minor” while his family lost everything — their home, their business and ultimately their lives. He arrived in the United Kingdom not speaking English.

There was no “waiting your turn” or “waiting in line” or “doing things the right way.” That meant certain death.

For families affected by violence, corruption and the lack of regard for human life, our country is again the only hope. Turning away the brave men, women and children, who are as terrified today as my family was 80 years ago, isn’t patriotic or moral.

I hope those in charge do the American thing and open our doors to those who yearn for freedom.

Eric Weinmann, West Hollywood

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To the editor: On the pedestal below Lady Liberty reads history’s best hope for freedom:

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

So many of the oppressed have sought succor and comfort as they came here to start a new life. Now the world as it watches us, is forced to ask itself, “Is it all a lie?”

John Francis Smith, Tarzana

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