Mexican standoff

So our current paranoid administration is building up a border fence on land that was stolen to begin with ["Looks like fences will go up on the U.S.-Mexico border,", May 18]. Meanwhile, our elderly and baby-boomer citizens are flocking to Mexico to purchase medications, dental and medical care, or to simply retire because they can't afford to live here any longer. Fair trade, I say.

Now, along with gasoline, your food prices will rise even higher because there's no one left to pick the fruit. What happens when we get everyone mad at us instead of building good neighbor relations? Maybe Mexico will kick out all those retirees and then our children will have to support them instead and we'll have a majority of our population at poverty level with no medical care.

Let's be careful how we look at this. I happen to know there are many Americans living there who never bother to learn the language or mix with the locals while they continue to ruin the environment. What a shame. Mexican citizens are a beautiful, friendly people who were first screwed over by the Spaniards and now us.

We don't need a fence, we need to question why we are letting these things happen. Instead, let's see what's really going on with George Bush. Be afraid, be very afraid.

— Jana Schreurs, Snohomish