Page 3 - Sonoma County Gazette - January 2018

RESPONSE TO 12/17 LETTER regarding Immigrant Stories 11/17
Then the personal account by
Gail Adams of her attendance at the Cannabis Advisory Board meeting which again stressed what my experience has shown - the concerns of ordinary citizens again is ignored by the powers that be.
Dear Ms. Philpitt,
I have represented many thousands
of immigrants through the green card process over 25 years, so I can assure you that I did not just “make facts up”. The truth is that persons from the
And yet another most lovely column “Joy” by Dr. Trapani. I wish I was still able to have pets - he would most certainly be the one to care for them!
UK and most of Europe do not need a visa to come here (unlike Mexican citizens). When they marry a US citizen, these Europeans are almost always eligible to process for a green card without leaving the country and without a pardon – even if they stayed here illegally and worked here illegally for many years. That’s not true for most Mexican citizens – even those who were brought here as children (not of their own volition).
And I haven’t even gotten to more of my favorites, like The Night Sky.
This green card process for Europeans has taken approximately 6 months for the last 25 years, although it is now taking a few months longer under the Trump Administration. Your son-in-law apparently chose a slightly longer process through the Consulate.
But, also, there are the usual
rants about climate change and our overuse of fossil fuels, etc. etc. But the article that got my antenna twitching was the one touting the “young supervisors.” The so-called sea change came in 1976 when Eric Koenigshofer was elected 5th district supervisor by a slim majority and from then on the “old order” was superseded. Let’s see - that means 41 years ago, these young wonders would institute new methods of governing.
Unlike most Europeans, these young people from Mexico with DACA must apply for an additional discretionary waiver and if denied, are barred from the country for 10 years. They must leave the country and process abroad, even if they get the waiver. Most people would say that’s unfair and that was one of the elements of anti-Mexican bias in the immigration law that was the subject of my article.
I have been a county resident long enough to know that nothing much has changed for the better - there
is more regulation (less individual freedom and responsibility) more things decided by committee (less accountability) and much less civility and courteous behavior. The income gap has worsened, self-reliance has worsened, and as government plays a major role in people’s lives, our ability to make choices has worsened.
The immigration system is broken and it’s important that our society have a fact-based conversation
about how to fix it. Even if we disagree about a solution, having a constructive and respectful dialogue about how to do so is preferable.
But, heck, it’s THE SEASON to rejoice - time to love your fellow man, and put angst aside. So let’s try at least to be kind to each other!
Reading the Gazette
Who considers their “home”, in which houses and protects their family as an “accessory” in their life???
Dear Vesta:
I found, as usual, several articles
Sincerely,
Barbara Cuneo, Santa Rosa
Christopher Kerosky
Here we go... take two...
Housing Crisis!
of particular interest - the opinion column by Robert Sterler, was unique in its idea for housing homeless people - it would give people a sense of contributing to their own sense
of worth and build community as well. Although we have been pouring funds toward this problem for years, it has grown worse!
What does good ole Merriam- Webster, the American unofficial authority of English language has to say about “accessory units”
Calling them “Accessory” Dwelling Units... is a contradiction to our current housing “crisis”...
1/18 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 3
LETTERS cont’d on page 4