Genesis of anarchy'

Re: your Aug. 28 article, "Church provides shelter to family":

Once again, I write to condemn the granting of sanctuary to a woman who, without apparent remorse, has entered the United States illegally. I cannot for the life of me understand how you can reward the wrongdoer. The United Church of Christ in Simi Valley has chosen to ignore certain laws while presumably following others. This selective endeavor is nothing short of the genesis of anarchy.

I commend our fine mayor in his efforts to preclude that which has occurred, as well as his representation that our sterling Police Department will assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement if asked to do so. I understand that individuals — even my own priest — can have compassion for this situation, but I fail to see how one's compassion can override the laws of the United States. If the young lady under discussion wishes to keep her family as a unit, her family can accompany her to her legal country of residence.

— William J. Tewksbury, Simi Valley

Revoke church's tax status

Re: your Aug. 28 article, "Church provides shelter to family":

Our U.S. Constitution separates church and state. I feel two things need to happen:

— The Internal Revenue Service needs to pull the United Church of Christ of Simi Valley's federal tax-exemption status. The church is making a political statement and harboring a federal fugitive.

— Immigration and Customs Enforcement should be outside the church waiting for the opportunity to arrest and deport this person who is in violation of our country's laws.

Wake up, America. Enforce our constitutional laws.

— Ted Maloney, Oxnard

Who's safe in America?

Re: your Aug. 20 article, "Illegal immigrant woman arrested outside church":

The illegal arrest and deportation of Elvira Arellano, who had been speaking at a rally outside of Our Lady Queen of Angels church, defies the freedom that churches, temples, mosques or any place of worship in the United States have erroneously believed they have.

What we in California have witnessed is the dissolution of the laws and freedoms documented in the U.S. Constitution by the illegal arrest and removal of a protester and activist who had safe sanctuary with various churches and was protected by the laws of the Constitution until she entered California.

When an unreachable Jim Hayes, director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Los Angeles, is quoted in an article on the Internet on Yahoo that "proper perspective" should be placed on the woman's case, I would like a few questions answered.

Why is there no contact address using the U.S. Postal Service available for ICE? Why does Hayes not have an address or e-mail contact for relatives of Arellano? Why is everything so secretive? Why defy the Constitution by arresting a protester and activist who had sanctuary within the confines of the church? Why was a mother, illegal immigrant or not, arrested on the steps of a Christian church only for public speaking, and why was that found acceptable in California?

Is there anyone brave enough in California to explain this to me? I'm a resident of California who is feeling very unprotected in my own country as a native American citizen married to a man from a Southeast Asian country, who is also an American citizen.

— Kathy Phongpitag, Ventura

Residency should be earned

Re: David Howard's Aug. 28 commentary, "Arellano plight shows immigrants' dilemma":

This is an insult to millions of legal "economic refugees" and "political refugees" who helped build the United States. It is an insult to me personally, since my mother and father and their parents legally immigrated to the United States to escape the Russian pogroms and the hatred and terrorism spreading across Europe under the leadership of Adolf Hitler.

I am very proud of the contribution my parents and grandparents made by their moral strength and determination, as well as their sweat and tears, to establishing themselves as decent and law-abiding and productive citizens of this country.

Howard owes a sincere apology to the memory of Rosa Parks and Anne Frank and all of the other souls who had a reason to emigrate to the United States and helped build the economy and the heart of this great country.

Elvira Arellano and her son, Saul, are not economic refugees by any stretch of the imagination. Arellano crossed the border with the help of a well-paid "coyote." She knew exactly what she was doing when she was deported for the first time and came back across the border the second time — to have a child here who is a U.S. citizen and use the entitlement system to have us pay for education and healthcare. She brings no skills or training that she can use to contribute to the betterment of herself, her child and this country.

Do we need to rethink our legal immigration policy? Yes. We need to allow more legal immigration based on need, skills and ability to assimilate.

We need to look at re-establishing a sponsorship program as part of revitalizing our legal immigration program. Where there is a will, there is a way.

— David Collins, Newbury Park

Mom should leave with son

Re: your Aug. 20 article, "Illegal immigrant woman arrested outside church":

Elvira Arellano, the deported illegal immigrant, is making me mad. I emigrated from New Zealand legally, a 7,000-mile journey. I did not sneak across the border with the help of a smuggler. I did not have a child with a father unknown to the media. Where is the father of young Saul? Did she produce a child just for the purpose of having an American citizen in the family? What sort of mother would return to her native land without taking her son with her? Is this the sort of role model we want?

I think Arellano should stay in Mexico and her son should be with her.

— Michael J. E. Burge, Ventura