Elvira Arellano hopes that showcasing a few individuals will illustrate the plight of millions.

Letter to the Editor
Re: The movement that spawned Elvira Arellano hopes that showcasing a few individuals will illustrate the plight of millions.

By Maria Fotopoulos, Los Angeles
September 3, 2007

For those of us who believe in the rule of law and a civil society, it’s completely baffling that people who come to the United States illegally to live think they have the right to be here (“A haven for illegal immigrants,” Sept. 2, 2007). And American citizens who don’t think at all and simply throw up their hands – “Well, they’re here; what can we do?” or “Well, they’re just looking for a better life” – are even more baffling.

About 1.1 billion people on this planet live on less than $1 a day. If this is a question of morality, can everyone come to America? Or is it just the ones who are located near enough to get across the border?

The churches involved in the sanctuary movement who are trying to legitimize illegal behavior by giving it religious cover and positioning it as something it’s not need to revisit the concept of separation of church and state – for starters.

Perhaps the best thing that will come out of the case of Elvira Arellano is a greater awareness of the need to change the law that a child born on American soil automatically gets U.S. citizenship.