As early as the 1500s immigrants fled from tyranny and violence in Europe and elsewhere, migrating to America seeking freedom and a better life. Hundreds of thousands arrived in the 1700s and millions in the 1800s.

They banded together and declared and fought a war for American independence. More than a century later when another tyrant tried to invade their old homelands, Americans helped defeat the Nazis led by Adolf Hitler, who promised to make Germany great again.

Today, foreigners suffering from violence are seeking refuge in America, like our forefathers did. But new racist policies are closing the border because President Donald Trump fears more than 40 million Latin Americans will make his agenda to make America white again impossible.

Closing the border is like cutting off your nose to spite your face, as it will cost business millions of dollars and loss of American jobs.

Ed Stevens

Mililani

Click here to read more Letters to the Editor.