Letters: Poor immigrants and the American dream

Re “Open the talent door,” Opinion, May 21

While UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi called very rightly for immigration reforms to better attract foreign scholars, innovators and entrepreneurs, another article in Tuesday’s Times detailed the attempt by Congress to shape legislation providing for much-needed and relatively inexpensive farm labor, primarily from Mexico.

Traditionally, our country’s immigration policy has allowed the poor and uneducated to move here with their families to take the low-paying jobs that Americans don’t want. And invariably, many of the most educated, innovative and entrepreneurial of Americans have sprung from those immigrant families.

Our country must remain a land of opportunity, not only for the world’s privileged and their children but also for the tired, the poor and the huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

Jon K. Williams

Goleta, Calif.

ALSO:

Letters: Apple’s taxes

Letters: Beating in Bakersfield

Letters: Scouting should stick to the basics