Letters to the Editor

Education, immigration raise many questions

I was appalled by the March 4 front page article "WNC workshops guide Hispanics to college."

Our educators are doing their best to help illegal immigrants get into our colleges and financially destroy this country. These are the same educators who want to tax the legal citizens for additional funds for the colleges. Since when is it our responsibility to aid people who are breaking our laws and draining our financial system? The article says that "Antonio (the undocumented resident) will attend Friday's workshop on financial assistance at the college."

It also related that it may be difficult for Antonio to find a job because he has no Social Security number. It's against our law for illegal aliens to have a Social Security number. He'll receive funds for his education (from where?). He will never pay a dime into our system. We, the broke legal citizens, will support him. He's been here since age 10. We have already provided nine years of free education. It wasn't free for us.

Multiply Antonio by the 10,000,000 illegal children here that the U.S. Immigration Department estimates as of 2008. The number of dollars just for education, medicine, welfare and the justice system that has been spent is probably more than the entire budget of many countries. This country is on the verge of financial collapse for this very reason and our educators encourage this phenomenon. What about our legal citizens who no longer have their retirements, their homes, investment college funds for their children, food, shelter, etc.?

I may feel sorry for Antonio but perhaps he and his illegal family should go back to Mexico and immigrate to this country legally like the others that waited for so many years. That way they can help support the system as opposed to robbing from it. What an ideal way to assimilate and become a good American.

IRENE ROSIN

Minden

Federal program assists women, infants and children

Regarding Ron Milligan's letter in the March 5 issue. Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is a federal program for low-income families based on income and family size. This is for pregnant, post-partum and nursing women, infants and children to the age of five.

Foods covered are eggs, cheese (per pound with a cash limit), milk, formula, cereal (also limited) to certain kinds (not sugar laden), a few other food items and a few other items for nursing mothers; bread is not a listed item.

Eligibility is based on income and there is not one dollar of state money involved. State employees working in the program are paid by federal, not state funds. The programs running the clinics do so under contract paid by the state office. The state office is merely a pass-through to manage the federal fund expenses and is based on state and federal regulations.

Since proper nutrition prevents low birth weight studies show that for each dollar of WIC food, it prevents three dollars in future years of federal health care.

Checks or smart cards (similar to credit cards) list the food package items, which are based on whether it is for a woman, infant or child, and the food packages are only available on a monthly basis.

A man with custody of his children is eligible for WIC if his income meets the guidelines, but obviously food packages are only for the children.

You cannot live on WIC foods only, they are to be added to a family's food for good nutrition for the pregnant mother, her unborn child, infants and children.

BETTY CRISWELL

Carson City

Financial aid to illegal residents strongly opposed

Financial aid to illegal residents for any reason is a slap in the face to all hard working, tax paying citizens of this country. Not to mention the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice in battle to protect the freedom and laws of this country.

STEVE BROWARD

Carson City