The immigration issue starts with the need for labor in the United States. This is the point most neglected by the media, and the politicians who claim to represent our best interests by attacking immigrants.

I am a plumber, and the problem most mentioned in our national trade magazines is the lack of young people going into the industry. I have heard the same thing about the boat-building industry here in Bristol. I have read in the newspapers that the lack of blue-collar workers is a problem throughout the country.

I have heard over and over again that “illegal immigrants” are displacing “American workers.” Where are the displaced workers? Why aren’t they learning to be plumbers or boat builders? Even in a recession, the unemployment rate is fairly low.

If there are 12 million undocumented workers in the United States, then it’s because there were 12 million jobs to be filled.

To those who say they are not against immigrants, only against “illegal” immigrants, I have a question: Would you have supported allowing these same 12 million people to have immigrated legally?

If the answer is no, then you are against immigration. If the answer is yes, then recognize the quota system as the root cause of the immigration problem, instead of blaming the people who came here to support both themselves and this nation.

This quota system was established in the 1920s to restrict Catholics and southern Europeans from coming to the United States. It was discriminatory then, and it still is. Today, it serves to prevent legal immigration, primarily from Latin America, from filling our labor needs.

It forces illegal immigration, because there is a definite need on both sides of the border. Once people are here, the roofs get done, the tables get bussed, and the offices get cleaned, and our labor needs are fulfilled. But the workers are denied their rights and live in fear of arrest and deportation. The end result is a form of modern-day slavery.

GREG HALL

Bristol