To the editor:
To the status quo who think migrants should learn English, I submit that they are semi-literate in their own language. Their signature might be a surname, first name or an X. Birth records may not always be kept in Mexico. They may not know their own date of birth. They won’t rush across the border to enroll in an (English as a Second Language) class.
Let politicians argue about the big picture at their leisure. They’re heeerre ‚Ķ Migrants are one foot away from us in the check-out line at Wegmans and Wal-Mart, in the doctor’s and dentist’s waiting room. We must spend $62 to treat the young mother’s abscessed tooth today. Her cheek is swollen to the size of a grapefruit. She has not slept in five nights. She cannot give comfort to her infant son in this foreign land. If we allow this today, we will be supporting this child and any progeny he happens to initiate for generations in our social service and prison systems.
As Jesus prophesied to the women of Jerusalem when He was carrying his cross, “Weep not for Me, weep for yourselves and for your children.” It is on us people of conscience of all faiths and no faith, in every walk of life, to put Band-Aids everywhere we can. Put out every little fire. Help these suffering strangers to enter our culture as quickly and simply as possible.
If we do not do this today, our social service and legal systems will be even more glutted with addiction and crime. That costs money in any language.
M.L. Verni
State Street
Caledonia
