To the Editor:
In response to John Dipple’s letter (Jan. 19, “He opposes the sanctuary Island idea”), I am assuming that he is a Native American. Otherwise, somewhere in his lineage there must have been some immigrant, someone alien to this country. I think it’s safe to say that many Americans are either descended from “invaders” of this land, some of whom stole the livelihood of the native people and to this day are distressing their lives (see Standing Rock Sioux), or arrived later and merely benefited from that.
As far as “soaking up free health care,” many of these “illegal aliens” contribute a significant amount of revenue to this country. For example, it is estimated that they pay $12 billion more into Social Security than they receive. They also pay much more in state and local taxes than they will ever receive in government benefits.
With regard to housing, there is a shortage of housing on the Island for many people. This is largely due to restrictive zoning laws and resistance from communities to having affordable housing built in their neighborhoods (see Sept. 28, “ZBA asks Island Housing Trust to reduce Kuehn’s Way units”).
Finally, while I’m not sure what the last paragraph in Mr. Dipple’s letter means, I do object to his final statement — “Do U.S. citizens want them here? No.” I am a U.S. citizen, and I welcome these people here. I was born in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, and perhaps we should all heed the words of Emma Lazarus —
“Give me your tired, your poor,/ Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free …”
Ted Jochsberger
West Tisbury