Letters: Immigration efforts doing more harm than good

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Immigration efforts doing more harm than good

Re: “ICE officer shoots Minneapolis driver during latest crackdown” (Page A3, Jan. 8).

It should be obvious by now that the Trump administration’s effort to remove large numbers of people who entered the country illegally is not only built on lies, but is doing far more harm than good.

There is clear public support for Trump’s effort to “secure the border,” but immigration reform has three parts, not one. It must include fixing the asylum system and creating more paths to legal status. A good start would be to copy what we did in the 1960s with the Cuban Adjustment Act. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans entered the country illegally but were awarded legal status with as little as one year of being here. No Republican that I know of thinks that was wrong or seeks to reverse it.

Decades later (until 2017), we followed the “wet foot/dry foot” policy that did essentially the same thing. Why not now?

Thomas Scott
Morgan Hill

Driver bears culpability in tragic shooting

Re: “ICE officer shoots Minneapolis driver during latest crackdown” (Page A3, Jan. 8).

The mainstream media is doing a great disservice to public safety in their reporting of the death of the Minneapolis driver.

Every loss of life is indeed a tragedy, and this is no exception. The driver, however, is not without some culpability, but you wouldn’t know it by news accounts. The Associated Press reports that the officer “pulls his weapon and immediately fires at least two shots into the vehicle at close range” while “the vehicle moves toward him.” The officer acts deliberately, but there is no characterization of the driver’s actions. It’s as if it were an autonomous vehicle.

And just when did it become acceptable to disobey police orders and flee?

Kathryn Tomaino
Los Altos

Next governor must prioritize education

Re: “Leading state doesn’t require being exciting” (Page A6, Jan. 7).

Flabbergasted! Perhaps the headline on Mark Z. Barabak’s column is true in principle. However, how angry it makes me that California’s next governor, according to the author, must focus her work on not lighting up a room but rather on fixing the roads, making housing affordable, and keeping the place from burning down — all worthwhile objectives.

California spends 40%-50% of its general fund budget on education. While California’s economy is cited as being the fourth largest in the world, we should have an education system second to none. California’s education achievement metrics continue to fall around 37 out of 50 states.

I vehemently disagree with Barabak; the next governor must “light up a room” when it comes to the quality of public education. She must take responsibility for the abysmal reading scores for Latino students and make reading by third grade the top state priority.

Joseph Di Salvo
San Jose

Walters misses scope of state’s economic woes

Re: “California’s sluggish economy merits more scrutiny this year” (Page A6, Jan. 6).

The title of Dan Walter’s opinion article might be the understatement of the decade. While pointing to the high unemployment, homelessness and cost of living, Walters fails to mention several troubling issues.

U-Haul released its annual “Growth Index,” and for the sixth straight year, California is ranked 50, making it the most popular state to leave.

Between June 2023 and June 2025, the state added around 188,000 social assistance jobs, yet only 4,900 in the private sector. The Golden State’s Medicaid spending, which covers Native American exorcisms, music lessons, cooking classes and other nonmedical services, has exploded over the last two years.

Gee, is there a problem with an absentee governor and a one-party state?

Henry Rissier
Hollister

Fix Our Forests Act is a bill the state needs

California’s forests are the backbone of Californians’ life and scenery. From the tall trees at Sequoia National Park to the many that surround indigenous lands, neighborhoods and livelihoods, they supply resources for those living in and around them.

Recently, however, fires have ravaged Californians, leaving them without homes and leaving residents to face smoke-clogged air and contaminated drinking water. In awareness of these problems, Sen. Alex Padilla took initiative and represented California as a strong supporter of the Fix Our Forests Act, securing fire-prone communities from the effects of wildfires. FOFA creates risk-reduction programs and increases planned analysis toward solvency for fires, preserving both California’s forests and protecting those vulnerable to the flames.

As the Senate moves closer toward final approval, it is crucial for climate-oriented activists to continue their work in this race and to stand strong for those who have lost their homes.

Rachel Tat
San Jose

Columns won’t make nuclear waste safe

Recent pieces in the Mercury News argue it’s time for nuclear power plants. Who in our neighborhoods wants to live near, or have transport routes carry, “forever chemicals” nearby?

There are currently no established methods for completely leak-free storage or comprehensive remediation of radioactive waste. Remote communities are burdened with living near containers of these deadly hazardous materials.

It remains to be seen if these same advocates would choose to live next to any of the new “safe” nuclear plants and the increasing quantities of these dangerous, long-lasting radioactive substances.

Rita Norton
Los Gatos