Letter: Immigration story needs to be told more fully

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, January 24, 2018

A recent poll showed that in the state of Arizona, Dreamers made up 2 percent of the general population, yet they made up 8 percent of the prison population.

The recent front-page human interest story about the family from El Salvador was a blatant attempt to solicit sympathy toward immigrants residing in Rowan County, who have had their protected status removed. This is a very big and divisive subject that affects all Americans, and I am disappointed in that you only showed one side of this issue.

To be completely honest with your readers, you should also include a front-page human interest story about an American family who has lost a loved one to an illegal immigrant. That would show the other effect of having TPS in place.

Realizing that not all illegal immigrants are bad, it is the process that needs to be addressed to remove those that threaten our freedoms as Americans.

Unfortunately, the situation has been let go for too long, and we as citizens need to be well informed of the whole truth This is why the media is so mistrusted today. Not reporting both sides of a big issue appears as an attempt to promote one side over the other. I hope you take the power you have as a newspaper very seriously and consider another side as well.

— Wayne Drye

Salisbury

Editor: A paper released by the Crime Prevention Research Center found that, from 1985 to 2017, undocumented immigrants ages 18-35 were about 2 percent of the Arizona population and 7.94 percent of the people imprisoned by the state for some period over that time.

The people featured in the Post on Sunday are in the United States legally at this time. We see no reason to draw a comparison to undocumented immigrants who have committed violent crimes.