"Here we go again with this DREAM Act, which will turn out to be a nightmare"

Displaced in society

"Maria" should get behind others striving for American Dream

Editor, The Times:

The question that is not answered by "Maria's hopes rest on a DREAM" [Times, Kate Riley editorial column, Sept. 17] is, at what costs?

Many of us have struggled to put our own children through college or watched as they accumulated student-loan debt. Riley does not indicate what the financial costs will be to each of us who must eventually foot the bill by paying taxes to support the DREAM of others.

Also, in the other cited case, Lucy Bottomley's stepfather did not think enough of her to legalize her immigration, so why should there be an exception made to our immigration laws to act in loco parentis?

I realize Riley has an opinion, which she poorly disguises with the most heart-wrenching examples instead of openly stating her position; I also think her efforts at sympathy cloud the actual debate on immigration reform. I am sure each of Riley's heartstring examples could be offset by an example of someone not deserving of consideration.

— Rick Murphy, Shoreline

Position is near-criminal

Here we go again with this DREAM Act, which will turn out to be a nightmare.

The bad choices these illegals made and are making will and do affect their children, as all decisions affect families. Children of prisoners suffer but it doesn't make it right that we reward those choices.

Sure, many children do well in school, but the bottom line is that we need to educate the children in our country and reward the immigrants who waited in line and played by the rules.

America doesn't need to reform our laws to suit people who break laws. Would you change laws to let prisoners free just because their families suffer? Our country would be in disorder.

We need to take back America and enforce the laws that made our country great!

— Kathleen Bukoskey, Everett

Back where I started

"Maria" [the pseudonym of the subject in Kate Riley's column, "Maria's hopes rest on a DREAM"] is an intruder in this country.

Millions of American young men and women will be displaced from entry to a university by illegal aliens!

Millions of people will come through the Family Reunification Act because of the "DREAM Act"! Each amnestied college "genius" will be able to bring three relatives to the U.S. and they in turn will bring each three more! We will have immigration by exponential numbers!

These immigrants will be coming from poor countries and they will be tax consumers, not taxpayers.

I'm Hispanic, I came to the U.S. as a legal immigrant and I'm a naturalized U.S. citizen. If I wanted to live with millions of poor people, ignorance, disease and crime, I would have stayed in my native country!

— Haydee Pavia, Laguna Woods, Calif.

Somebody's home

Get the door, here's the hinge

In drawing attention to the loss of affordable housing owned by the Navy in Discovery Park ["Little opposition to razing Discovery Park housing," Local News, Sept. 6], what is not mentioned is the city of Seattle's efforts to build hundreds of low-income and affordable units within another section of the park.

Nor is referenced the community outcry, supported by the Seattle Displacement Coalition and the Church Council of Greater Seattle, among others, over the potential conversion of the Lock Vista apartment units into condominiums.

In the effort to "End Homelessness in King County in Ten Years," we will continue to partner with organizations that: build housing units for low-income and working-class individuals and families; ensure that service-sector jobs pay living wages; make possible the preservation of existing housing, such as Yesler Terrace.

These are the seeds of a comprehensive approach toward confronting poverty.

Together, we can resolve to unleash the political will to make Seattle and King County livable for current and future generations.

— Michael Ramos, director of Social Justice Ministries, Church Council of Greater Seattle

Don't let it hit you

What a shame and how typical of Seattle liberalism that we would ignore the great need for low-income housing in order to obtain more open space.

As much as I love Discovery Park, I think it is unfortunate that we are not even considering obtaining the Capehart property for mixed-income housing ["City will demolish housing at Discovery Park," Local News, Sept. 20].

It seems to me that we Seattleites are dedicated to solving homelessness as long as we can put the homeless where airplanes fly low, or keep them where gunshots ring.

What would make more sense to me would be to purchase the Capehart property with the intent of creating a mixed-income development, such as at New Holly. And what about the row of officers' houses located in an area that most of us assume is already part of the park? Purchasing these houses for vacation rentals would give open-space advocates an opportunity to educate visitors and earn additional income for our park — perhaps to better maintain the open space we currently have?

Ah, but what of it anyway. I'm sure the really low in income will find their way to Discovery Park. So much space to pitch a tent and not be discovered.

— Karin Rosman, Seattle

Residing mower

This model has two horns

In response to "Councilmember wants to let Seattleites get their goats" [Local News, Sept. 2], Seattle City Councilman Richard Conlin's proposal to allow pygmy goats as pets makes perfect sense to me.

Goats are a sustainable way to remove weeds on private property, and provide owners with fertilizer, dairy, gentle companionship and even wool. What dog does all that?

Most lawn mowers require gas, and just pollute the air we breathe. Dairy products require transportation costs, and inorganic fertilizers aren't sustainable.

Goats eliminate these problems and draw attention to outside-the-box solutions for environmental problems.

The goat idea has been tested and proven in Everett and Portland, and the mini-ruminants are in demand to clear vegetation in the city already.

So what's the problem?

— John Murphy, Seattle