America, don’t turn your back on asylum-seekers

Kudos to you, Mr. Kadner, for your remarks in your recent column regarding the parallels between the asylum seekers on the ship St. Louis and today’s modern-day asylum seekers.

The fact that our government, and a frightening number of Americans, are once again attempting to turn their backs on desperate people trying to enter our country is a sad commentary indeed.

Let us continue to live by and remember the words so beautifully written at the base of the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Betsy Blew-Ochoa, Palos Heights

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Moms-to-be need common courtesy on buses, not buttons

Rather than women spending money to wear a pin that states they are pregnant and would appreciate a seat on a bus or train, I have an entirely new concept to try: common courtesy.

If you are able-bodied, get up off your rump and offer your seat to an expectant mom or senior. Remember what your mother taught you about being polite and kind.

Thankfully, Europe has figured this out long ago. When it comes to culture, they beat us once again.

Sandra Minor, McHenry

America’s border cruelty is intentional

Thank you for your editorial “Cruelty on the border debases every American citizen.” (July 8, 2019) You needn’t wonder any longer if the cruelty is intentional. It clearly is.

The Trump administration thinks that it will deter people — many of whom are fleeing for their very lives — from coming here. It won’t. They have no place else to go. And to the extent that U.S. foreign policy has contributed to, if not caused, the deadly chaos they face, we owe them at least a hearing on asylum.

If I’m wrong about the cruelty being intentional, then the only other explanation is incompetent management. Either way, it debases America and every one of us.

David Philippart, Lakeview