Awaiting the Supreme Court’s Decision on the ‘Dreamers’

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/13/opinion/letters/immigration-supreme-court.html

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To the Editor:

Re “Justices Appear Inclined to Let Trump End DACA” (front page, Nov. 13):

I’m one of those “700,000 young undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers.” I grew up primarily in the United States, enabling me to follow my wildest dreams. As this country is all I’ve ever truly known, I can’t imagine a future anywhere else.

Yet it is not up to me to decide where I’ll live. For all that I’ve accomplished, adjusting my own legal status to remain here is still just an elusive fantasy.

I wait yet again for my future to be determined by another power. However, this is nothing new, given the uncertainties in my past seven years of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. Except this time, the ball is in the highest court.

Jesús Bazán VillicañaSt. LouisThe writer is in the Medical Scientist Training Program at Washington University in St. Louis.

To the Editor:

The American dream is a shining beacon of hope around the world. This is precisely why it is imperative that citizens understand the importance of protecting the Dreamers and the entire DACA program. What message will it send to the world if we fail to protect about 700,000 people yearning for freedom, prosperity and independence?

We must incorporate DACA as a cornerstone to the larger effort of comprehensive immigration reform. We can’t leave these fine people in the lurch. Mr. President, the American people implore you to see reason and put aside your preconceived notions and political bias. Yes, we must double down on security at the border and open up a national fight against gang violence in our major cities. However, we should not punish innocent people and mistake them for hardened criminals.

We should grant citizenship to these Dreamers, who serve our country in the military, pay payroll and sales taxes, and receive an education to advance their future and that of our broader American family. We demand a policy of common sense and humanity. America must preserve DACA and return to our founding principles.

Henry J.H. WilsonBarrington, Ill.

To the Editor:

Conservative justices on the Supreme Court, taking the president’s word, have apparently decided to let President Trump have his way and end DACA. Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh make clear that instead of practicing judicial independence and acting as a check on his power, they will defer to the president.

In the future, will they take the same approach, assuming the next president has made “a very considered decision,” or will they question a president who doesn’t share their political views? The founding fathers are rolling over in their graves at this latest violation of the norms we have fought for over nearly 250 years.

Edwin AndrewsMalden, Mass.

To the Editor:

Re “5-Hour Workdays? Yes, Please,” by Cal Newport (Op-Ed, Nov. 7):

Sounds like a great idea! And if you have a fever of 104 degrees, have the chills and are having unending coughing spasms; and all your family members, who happen to have complicated medical histories, have the same; and you call your family doc and you get a message that says, “I work five hours a day, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m., and don’t bother me otherwise,” what might you do?

As a physician, having taken calls at all hours of the day and night, I really wonder how jettisoning round-the-clock inbox checks might work. Sorry, unlike your personal physician, no urgent care center has you in mind, only profits. Be careful what you wish for!

Lynn K. RudichWoodbridge, Conn.

To the Editor:

Re “The Pleasure of Household Chores,” by Juan Vidal (Sunday Review, Nov. 3):

As a child, in exchange for a weekly allowance, I did mandatory household chores like dusting, vacuuming the stairs, scrubbing bathrooms, changing sheets and ironing my dad’s boxers and handkerchiefs. My mother was an excellent and grateful supervisor because she hated housework.

Chores turned into a way to have fun and get attention. I found cleaning and organizing projects my mother would have never dreamed of.

As an adult who has worked mostly from home for the last two decades, I have struggled with the clean-before-work affliction. Cleaning and organizing grew into an art form, a creative endeavor.

Now, on the verge of retirement, with more time on my hands, I hate to admit that I love nothing more than spending the day cleaning and organizing my house, garage and garden.

Mary ZebellIthaca, N.Y.