I have a son who has a type of autism similar to Chris Takaishi's and who has a similar history [Metro, Dec. 26]. He was born in a country where his illness was not recognized and where rehabilitation services were lacking. My son is lucky: Because he was born to me, an American citizen, he can remain in this country.
Mr. Takaishi is being forced to return to a country where he will have a difficult time. He doesn't read or write Japanese, and he has no social support group. He has no job and probably has little chance of getting one, given his lack of language skills.
This young man has proven that he can take care of himself here in the United States. He pays taxes on his salary, and plenty of people are ready to support his getting a green card. So why is he forced back to Japan?
Years before Sept. 11, 2001, I worked for a U.S. embassy abroad, and even then I was disgusted with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Now I find our immigration policies despicable. Plenty of illegal immigrants are afforded a wink and a nod because they are needed for their cheap labor, while others who are here legally are sent packing for the slightest reason.
Mr. Takaishi would have been an inspiration here for others with autism; his loss leaves many hearts broken among the American families that gave so freely of their time and love to help make him a successful member of the community.
BRENDA SOUTO
Silver Spring
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Helen Epstein's Czech husband's difficulties getting a green card are unacceptably Kafkaesque ["Immigration Maze," op-ed, Dec. 26]. But her claim that "many immigrants take low-paying jobs that Americans refuse" is a shibboleth. The huge numbers of uneducated, unskilled immigrants pouring across our borders -- 3 million illegal immigrants in 2004 alone, according to Time magazine -- amount to outsourcing by importing cheap labor. The resulting competition with Third World labor pushes wages down to levels no American should have to accept.
Studies from such diverse sources as the National Academy of Sciences, George Borjas of Harvard University, and the University of California at Los Angeles's Chicano Studies Research Center show that mass immigration depresses wages among the most deprived U.S. citizens. It also undoubtedly accounts for the current high rate of unemployment.
DAVID C. HOLZMAN
Lexington, Mass.
