My great-grandfather Peter Foy immigrated to the U.S. from County Mayo in the era of “No Irish Need Apply.” He was young, poor and (gasp!) Catholic. Papists, with their untrustworthy allegiances, represented a danger to the country. Many new groups immigrating to America have been faced with similar suspicions and prejudices.
The Empire’s editorial “Reckless Endangerment” is an example of the most extreme expression of this distrust. The editorial was incredibly hateful and paranoid. One reason many young Syrian men are fleeing is that they do not want to take part in war. Yes, there are threats that come from abroad. There are also domestic threats (Oklahoma City) and industrial accidents (apparently the explosion in West Texas was not as exciting to cover as the Boston Marathon bombing, even though more people died in the Texas explosion). I cannot believe that any thinking, feeling human being can see the footage of the desperate refugees and instead of being moved by their plight, write such an ugly editorial instead.
Jeanne Foy
Juneau