What kind of a nation have we become that Hispanic leaders such as Andrea Bazan and Tony Asion are receiving death threats? Do the words and actions of Sen. Elizabeth Dole add to these kind of racist actions?

Why not focus our words and actions on changing our immigration laws rather than on targeting hard-working immigrants?

I recently returned from a Witness for Peace trip to Nicaragua. We visited rural families and communities that are being devastated by our trade policies such as CAFTA. Small farmers are being driven north in order to be able to feed and educate their children. This kind of failed corporate-driven trade has bankrupted two million Mexican corn farmers.

It is time that our politicians take a principled and even courageous stance on immigration. We need to allow people to come to this country and work legally. Immigration is a moral issue, as it involves human beings struggling to feed their families.

What does our hatefulness toward poor Mexicans and Central Americans say about who we are and what we value? Once the enforcement fever breaks, we may look at what had been done and no longer recognize the country that did it.

Gail S. Phares

Raleigh