Regarding Sam West's letter to the editor ("It's time America controls its borders," News-Sentinel, Oct. 19): He is right-on.

Contrary to the myriad of "politically correct" op-ed writers across the country, not to mention mass-cheap-labor-pool business fat-cats, and ethnic-identity politicians, Mr. West knows an invasion when he sees one.

The problem lies just under the radar screen in that people who want immigration control and reform are labeled as being "anti-immigrant."

That is not true.

Those people simply want:

. Immigration quotas put back to our nation's historical norm of about 200,000 per year, not the 500 percent above normal of 1 million per year.

. Deportation of the 400,000 illegals who make it successfully across our borders each year, instead of just the small fraction who are deported.

In short, people redressing their government for immigration reform simply want our nation's immigration laws to reflect the sane policies that used to benefit both our nation, and those arriving here - the pre-1965 policies that Mr. West mentioned would still be the most generous immigration quotas on the planet.

If that constitutes being "xenophobic," "bigoted," "racist," "mean-spirited," "anti-immigrant," etc., so be it.

Hats off to you, Mr. West.

And while we are at it, maybe - just maybe - we should also insist that our new citizens learn English proficiently, and maybe a good dose of American history, with enough civics thrown in for good citizenship instead of the dumbed-down standards of today.

Louis A. Skuce San Diego

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