To the editor:

Mona Charen, in her article “An America-first immigration policy” (Messenger Opinion page, Aug.8), writes of the shortage of workers and the need for immigrants to fill those positions. She ended her article with the question that she says Republicans must answer today: How do you like this immigrant-starved America? I can’t speak for any other Republican or for that matter any Democrat or independent who is troubled by the crisis ongoing at our southern border.

There may be many jobs that could be filled by immigrants, but those same jobs should be filled by legal immigrants. Charen did not address what President Biden or Democrats have done to encourage legal immigration to fill those jobs. Perhaps she might have mentioned the need for true immigration reform, reform that would address legal immigration, reform that has not been passed by either party when in control of the Senate, the House, and the presidency, control Democrats have today.

In letters to the editor I have expressed my concern about the number of illegal immigrants that have crossed, and continue to cross, our southern border. Just a few years ago it was said there were 11 million (some think double that number) undocumented immigrants in the country. Based on 2 million illegal encounters at the border in 2021 and the possibility of as many as 2 ¢ million in 2022, as long as Biden’s policies remain the same, 8-10 million immigrants may enter our country illegally in Biden’s four years. Under the Biden administration policies, with the support of Democrats (and the mainstream media turning their eye elsewhere), we have utter chaos at the border. Border Patrol agents spend so much time and resources processing the overwhelming number of illegals that the border has become open to sex and human trafficking, drug smuggling (thousands of Americans dying from fentanyl, a narcotic from China being smuggled across our porous border) and the increased opportunity for terrorists to cross undetected. None of that was mentioned in Charen’s article nor did she mention the hundreds of thousands of unaccounted for got-aways. We need more Border Patrol agents and less new IRS agents.

Recently, a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan killed the top leader of Al Qaeda. His death is both good, and bad. Good because a key person responsible for the killing of thousands of Americans received his just due. Bad because his death may be a motive for terrorists around the world to accelerate the planning of terrorist attacks, particularly to kill Americans, to avenge his death. As open as the border is, and given the number of got-aways, I believe it is a fair assumption a number of terrorists are already in this country.

Biden is willing to spend upwards of $40 billion for Ukraine to protect its borders. How much has Biden and the Democrats spent to secure our border? A spending bill Biden signed in March reduced the U.S. Customs and Border Protection budget by $428 million from the previous year, to just $14.8 billion.

Mona Charen ended her article with a question for Republicans. I will end with questions Biden and Democrats must answer today: How many illegal immigrants are enough? When (if) that cap is established, what is your plan to secure the border and protect Americans?

Chuck Peterson Fort Dodge