Letters: Immigration, bacteria, environment, media

Soccer player is still illegal

Re “Pro soccer player with a college degree – will he be deported?” (Marcos Breton, March 1): The answer is: Miguel Aguilar should be deported. I hope he isn’t. There’s no question he didn’t cause his problem and to his credit he has applied for a green card.

But try looking at this as if you were a laid-off steel worker in Detroit or a kid from a middle-class family who can’t afford to go to college and not as someone who only sees the plight of an illegal immigrant. Aguilar took a job from a U.S. citizen and a seat in a college classroom.

Stop ignoring the laws of our land, and implying that law-abiding citizens are the bad guys. There is a middle ground. Give those who are here now a green card, but not citizenship, and start deporting anyone who comes illegally in the future.

Focus on prevention

Re “Dirty dozen: U.N. identifies 12 most worrying bacteria” (Page 10A, Feb. 28): The World Health Organization’s focus on medication development to treat antibiotic-resistant bacteria seems more like a Band-Aid fix that misses the importance of preventing antibiotic resistance in the first place.

In the U.S., about 80 percent of all antibiotics are sold to the livestock industry. In 2015, California passed Senate Bill 27, one of the most progressive bills to date addressing misuse of antibiotics in livestock production. However, the rest of the nation has yet to hold the industry to the same standards. Also, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates as much as half of all antibiotics prescribed to people are either unneeded or not effective as prescribed.

While research and development of new medicines may be constructive, let’s not forget the importance of prevention through policies that enforce more judicious use of antibiotics.

Gov. Brown should ban fracking

Re “Brown should deal with state’s environmental issues” (Viewpoints, Feb. 22): There is only so much that we, the citizens of California, can do to demand environmental protection. It is the responsibility of Gov. Jerry Brown and state legislators. Unfortunately, Brown is clearly not responding to environmental and public health threats, such as fracking.

A statewide ban on fracking is long overdue. If Brown wants to call himself an environmental advocate, then he needs to follow through and protect Californians from harmful pollution, as well as rising global temperatures.

Beware of Trump’s attacks on media

Re “In attacks on media, Trump uses a phrase with a fraught history” (Page B2, Feb. 27): The defeat in World War I and the Treaty of Versailles, which forced Germany to pay millions of dollars in reparations, destroyed the German economy for years after 1918. Into this breach stepped Adolf Hitler, who promised that he and only he could lead Germany to be great again. He introduced a scapegoat that Germans could identify as the problem -- the Jews. Then by intimidation and physical abuse, he controlled the press and destroyed the judiciary. The Germans stood by while this was happening and the results were the Holocaust and World War II, which took the lives of millions of people.

Donald Trump has provided us with a scapegoat; criminal undocumented immigrants. He calls our free press “the enemy of the people,” and says our federal judges can’t make decisions that even high school students could make. The consequences of Trump could be catastrophic. America beware.

We need new leadership

Re “Feinstein banters with protesters at forum” (Capitol & California, Feb. 25): It is time for Sen. Dianne Feinstein to go. The Democratic Party needs men and women who understand that the Republican Party stands for the interest of business at any cost and that Democrats represent workers and citizens with little access to government.

We need leaders who can articulate what the party stands for, and who won’t back down or apologize for their stance.

This story was originally published March 2, 2017 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Letters: Immigration, bacteria, environment, media."