Readers sound off on Biden’s immigration policies, the rat czar and housing bills

Brooklyn: To Voicer Tom McGuire: In order to be eligible for asylum in the United States, a person must first meet the definition of a refugee as established in the Immigration and Naturalization Act. This means that they must have a fear of persecution due to their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or their inclusion in a particular social group.

Yet it is clear that the vast majority of asylum seekers coming to the U.S.A. are not fleeing persecution, but seeking to improve their standard of living. They know they can apply for asylum as a means to enter the country. Many are given desk appearance tickets and never show up for their hearings, disappearing into the country while their asylum requests are being endlessly processed.

Most of the refugees being housed and fed here in NYC and elsewhere while being provided with free medical care and education for their children at taxpayer expense should have been turned away at the border for failing to meet the requirements for asylum. We all know that once they are admitted into the country, they will never be deported, at least not as long as President Biden is in office.

No other nation in the world would tolerate this. And as for my first Middlebrooks ancestor in North America, he arrived in Puritan New England about 200 years prior to when your McGuire forebearer came here, long before there was a U.S.A. and immigration laws. Dennis Middlebrooks

Brooklyn: Anyone contemplating singing the national anthem at any sporting event needs to watch and emulate the gentleman who sang it before the Panthers/Golden Knights hockey game on Tuesday. He was (except for the pre-arranged crowd participation, which I believe began in Baltimore) absolutely awesome! Alan Zarrow

Fort Myers, Fla.: Re “Address the needs of the seriously mentally ill” (op-ed, June 15): “Throughout my career, I have seen numerous cases involving individuals struggling with behavioral health issues who have found themselves cycling in and out of the justice system.” An illness (mental or physical) is not a behavior. Do not confuse the two. Illnesses display symptoms. Harold A. Maio

Brooklyn: I would like to know where Mayor Adams’ rat czar happens to be. Is she missing? Then put her photo on a milk carton! I have sent repeated images from my neighborhood (Bensonhurst) to no avail. The abuses on W. 7th St., between Ave. O and Bay Parkway, are disgusting. Rats have had a buffet every night here. Right next door, where Phillips Dance Studio was in “Saturday Night Fever,” is an apartment building that contributes to this buffet. Nobody fines the landlords or rectifies the situation. I took an image of a squashed rat that has been in the street for three weeks now. The first week, he was not squashed! Sanitation workers are the laziest city employees. My hope is that you can help our declining quality of life in NYC. Tony Perrotti

Jamaica: To Voicer Harry Kaplan: My parents did not need any permission to discipline me. I did not need permission to discipline my children, and my children and many others did not need permission to discipline their children. Don’t make excuses if you’re having difficulty disciplining yours. This isn’t Israel and this isn’t Thailand. I don’t need to tell my children and grandchildren that when you’re 18, you’re going into the military because I did not know how to raise you. Joseph C. Stanislaus

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Brooklyn: Congratulations to the city’s teachers and other unions for getting a great contract. However, since the city seems to have so much money to put into raises, it is hard to understand why the city cannot afford to let retirees, who already put in the time and effort to pave the way for the current workers, keep their current health plans. Retirees are on fixed incomes. Current workers are getting substantial raises. Why is it not possible for a very small percentage of the current raises be taken out of paychecks to pay for their health care and therefore enable retirees to keep what we have? Most retirees do not want Medicare Advantage, we want a fair way to keep what we have. It is time for the city administration to rethink its approach to retirees’ health care! Phyllis Schweiger

Astoria: To Voicer Joe Ewansky: Every president makes judicial appointments sympathetic to their worldview. That has nothing to do with my point that the Democratic Party is using the power of the state and courts to prosecute an uneven bifurcation of justice, favoring their allies but destroying their enemies. Donald Trump is being prosecuted for retaining classified documents, yet President Biden, who did the same as Mike Pence, as well as Hillary Clinton’s laptop, are memory-holed. Here in New York City, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is prosecuting Trump on made-up charges, is also charging Daniel Penny for manslaughter for defending a subway car from a lunatic. Yet Bragg has downgraded serious felonies to misdemeanors because too many of the defendants are Black, under the guise of criminal justice reform. The South African ANC-style government the Democrats have metastasized into has wider implications than Trump. Brad Morris

Bronx: Am I the only person who finds it strange that Trump was supported by neither his wife Melania nor any of his five children at his arraignment? Has he estranged them all? Rose Mary Lancaster

Manhattan: To Voicer Rita Nanes: While it’s great that a bystander helped you out, you should be very careful who you trust with your banking transactions. My late aunt was in her late 80s, in the early stages of dementia, and couldn’t remember her password/code when she went to the teller. She told my mom that the tellers were her “friends” and created new codes each time. Long story short, I took over her finances and found that her “friends” had stolen $7,000 from her, and had tried for more but were unsuccessful. I reported the theft to the bank. After an internal investigation, they returned her money. Please be careful. If you can, find a trusted friend or relative to help with your banking. Vanessa Enger

Brooklyn: Sorry to see you go, Commissioner Keechant Sewell. You did a good job under difficult circumstances. Too bad you were undermined by our one-term mayor. Just remember what they say about karma. You will go on to bigger and better things. Best wishes. June Lowe

Brooklyn: What can stop harmful behavior before it occurs? Surely a task, but here is what I think: Dialing 988 by those in crisis and by those who know of individuals in crisis is important and helpful. Also, communities having awareness programs and community police (NYPD) officers to bring empathy and resources to those in need. For disagreements, there is a way to communicate by reaching out to community mediation centers in the boroughs. There are trained and city-recognized peacemakers who are known as mediators. They are available to assist families, communities, schools, businesses, groups and gangs. As a populace, we need to imagine peace and create peace through communication! Louis Cohen

Manhattan: Re “Wins for voters, owners” (column, June 11): Leonard Greene is completely wrong on the “Good Faith Eviction” bill and the Housing Stability & Tenant Protection Act of 2019, and his assertion that these measures undercut Black wealth is dangerously misguided. Passing good cause eviction and bolstering rent regulation is critical for bringing racial justice to housing, and will hugely benefit tenants of color, particularly Black tenants. More than two-thirds of Black families in New York State rent and are three times as likely to face eviction than white households. By expanding tenant protections, good cause would promote housing stability and combat displacement, empowering tenants financially and otherwise. Meanwhile, eliminating rent regulation would result in wholesale evictions of millions of tenants, disproportionally people of color. Good cause and New York’s rent regulation laws would help keep economic equity within families for generations by providing housing stability. Adriene Holder, civil practice chief attorney, Legal Aid Society