Public Comment

New: Our Justice Department Needs Improvement

Romila Khanna
Friday July 10, 2015 - 01:45:00 PM

How can one person represent all Mexican-Americans? Francisco Lopez-Sanchez is accused in the shooting death of 32 year-old Kathryn Steinle at Pier 14 on the Embarcadero in San Francisco last week. The other day I was listening to a Presidential candidate for the Republican Party. I was amazed to hear the candidate say, he will close the borders so immigrants will stop killing American citizens. It seems to be a blame game. Because of one or two we cannot blame all the Mexican-Americans here. There are all kinds of good and bad people in the U.S. including descendants of those who came over on the Mayflower. The immigrants from families that have been in the U.S. for many generations also shoot and kill people. Why are there no heated debates about immigrants from England or Scotland?  

This country has been built up by immigrants. People come here and work hard to make their new home here. They pay taxes and help our economy to grow. But due to lapses in background check in Citizenship and Immigration Services, we mistakenly admit some bad people.  

Undocumented immigrants pose a different problem. They enter the country undetected. The way of accommodating them and at the same time running background checks on them is more complicated. The first policy change required is to accept the fact of undocumented immigrants. The next step is to run thorough background checks before giving them guest worker status. Let them work, make their living and contribute to the economy as honorable taxpayers. Delaying change in the status of undocumented people will not solve the problem of daily crimes. Background checks are our best protection against that.