Editor:

Sorry to contradict, but Rabbi Drucker’s reasoning is flawed. The issue is not what’s fair. The issue is what’s legal.

No nation is only “for itself,” though a person may be only for himself. A nation is a society bounded by laws which, in our case, are freely chosen and agreed to by the electorate, you and me.

Your grandfather was an illegal immigrant? Mine was a legal immigrant. It took years for him to save the money needed to bring his family here. Legally. Both of my sons-in-law are legal citizens now, after having invested years of work and thousands of dollars taking the legal path to citizenship.

Have you lost work to illegal immigrants? I have. My wife has.

Does anyone automatically possess the right to live and work in the United States? Only citizens and those who enter legally. As dean of academic affairs at an international university in Los Angeles, I understand some of the legal requirements my students face to work legally in my country.

Is the rest of the world’s population today on a par with Jews in Europe during the Nazi era?

Not even close. The conflation of these examples is absurd.

Emma Lazarus penned words now inscribed on the Statue of Liberty that express the hope of millions.

The Founding Fathers penned other words — and pledged their lives, their fortunes and their honor — defending their words written in the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. This is the authority on which any man or woman in America knows the limits of his or her freedom.

If you don’t like our laws, change them. It’s your right.

I preserve my humanity and my very character when I insist that others do as I do and respect the law. Without respect for law, we all become fair game.

Dr. David B. Haddad

Pine Cove