Media

Just yesterday, a letter from Tim Jenkins of Madison addressed the “facts” about immigration (or was it illegal immigration?). Funny thing is, just about every one of his points has a counterpoint somewhere on the Internet or in a different fact sheet about immigration in our country.

Another Jenkins, Culpeper’s own Steve Jenkins — member of Town Council and immigration watchdog — was back in the news recently for comments about graffiti and illegal immigrants. In case you missed it, on April 28 the Star-Exponent published a report about vandalism in the town. The vandals spraypainted signs and symbols that relate to gang activity.

It was reported that Steve Jenkins said, “This kind of stuff never occurred in the town of Culpeper until the presence of illegal aliens became fairly obvious to everybody.” Jenkins said he was connecting the dots to the illegal immigrants who have known ties to gangs.

For every letter that supports Mr. Jenkins and his efforts for tighter control over the illegal population, there is a letter that displays opposition to these efforts.

The letter to the editor that had me scratching my head, however, was on May 1 in which a Mr. Bob Marnell, from Viewtown, equated the possibility of swine flu (H1N1 virus) with the day laborers he saw congregating near a local store.

Wow. I just have to think about that one for a few moments.

Luckily, there are cooler heads prevailing at this time in our nation’s capital. Immigration reform is once again on the table. President Obama and key members of Congress are already working on a new, comprehensive overhaul to immigration policy. The president held a news conference a few weeks ago to outline the speed in which he would like to proceed with the change in the plan. The current system is not in good shape, he said.

“It’s not good for American workers. It’s dangerous for Mexican would-be workers who are trying to cross a dangerous border. It is putting a strain on border communities,...