The situation on our southern border with Mexico right now is the result of a lack of smart immigration policy. It has been building since the beginning of the Cold War.

Our government, with McCarthy-era fear of communism, took actions that involved interfering in elections, overthrowing elected leaders with military coups initiated and supported by our covert operatives. We supported authoritarian right-wing leaders who only needed to declare anti-communist sentiments to gain our support. Rather than support freedom and democracy, we engaged in activities that resulted in huge violations of human rights. Resisters were subject to arrest, torture, rape, murder, ethnic cleansing and who knows what else. Civil wars broke out, economies were ruined and now with climate change damage, hope of having any sort of quality of life in many places is non-existent.

People with nothing to lose will continue to try entering our country, and nothing will stop that unless hope of something better can be achieved in their home countries. With a low birth rate and an aging population, the U.S. economy struggles to grow. Allowing larger numbers of immigrants to enter and become productive citizens seems to me to make much better economic sense than wasting billions of dollars building a wall.

Wouldn’t it be better for us all to have a progressive immigration policy that respects the human rights that our Constitution guarantees and allows new immigrants to more easily become citizens?

Gregory Drummond
North Anson

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