To the Editor:

The November 22-28 edition included a letter from Nancy Foster that spoke out against illegal immigration. Unfortunately, it mostly repeated the dishonest claims of the Trumpican Party and the propaganda of Fox News.

Most people are rightly concerned about the disorder at the Mexican border and indeed it is a major problem. US immigration law is in dire need of a comprehensive revision. However, it is not a crime to present yourself at the border and seek asylum. Large numbers of people are leaving the odious dictatorships of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, and many have legitimate reasons to flee for safety. When they enter our country, they are supposed to be scheduled for a hearing. This is what the Trumpicans are calling “Catch and release”, but is really just “innocent until proven guilty”. Like anyone suspected of a non-violent crime, they should not be detained until a hearing.

But the majority of people in the United States illegally sneak in by less well publicized methods. A couple of illustrative cases will shed some light:

Ivana Marie Zelníčková was born in communist Czechoslovakia in 1949.  As a young woman she desperately wanted to live in a free country, just as so many asylum seekers do today.  Instead of requesting asylum though, she committed “marital fraud” by having a sham marriage with her Austrian friend and ski coach. This enabled her to get an Austrian passport so she could travel to Canada and then to the United States. Marital fraud was and is a crime in the US, Canada, and Austria, but it worked out for her. She ended the sham marriage, and in 1977 married the future president of the United States, Donald Trump.

Melanija Knavs was born in the communist dictatorship of Yugoslavia in 1970, and you can see where this is going. Her part of Yugoslavia seceded in 1991 after just ten days of war, and became Slovenia—a parliamentary democracy. Ms. Knavs started fashion modeling at age 16 and 10 years later was recruited by an agency to move to New York City. She violated US immigration law by starting work in the United States while still on a traveler’s visa. She wasn’t caught, jailed, or deported, and in 2005 became the third Mrs. Donald Trump.

What harm did either of these illegal immigrants do to the United States?  Well, none--just like the vast majority of other immigrants. The last comprehensive overhaul of US immigration law was during the Reagan administration when we were said to be “A shining city upon a hill” which welcomed people from all over the world. The law desperately needs to be updated, but I fear we’ll become instead “A rusty razor wire barrier on the river.”

John Dewar
Potsdam