"People are here without papers," says Duke anthropology professor Charles D. Thompson Jr. in his April 18 Point of View piece "Lessons learned on immigration," because "massive historical and economic forces push people around."

Humbug. "Massive historical and economic forces" didn't:

* Push through the 1965 Immigration Act with its chain migration provisions that made Latin America and, secondarily, Asia the near-exclusive sources of legal and illegal immigration.

* Grant citizenship to children born to foreign nationals illegally in the U.S.

* Hand down the 1982 5-to-4 Supreme Court decision (Plyler v. Doe) ordering taxpayers to educate children brought illegally to the U.S.

* Grant amnesty in 1986 to 2.7 million illegal aliens.

* Strip effective employee verification from a 1996 immigration bill.

* Permit banks in 2002 to accept easily forged Mexican matricula consular ID cards used almost exclusively by illegal aliens.

The actors in this farce are not mysterious "historical forces." They are familiar characters: short-sighted politicians, corporate and ethnic lobbyists, overreaching judges.

Tom Shuford

Lenoir