DEAR EDITOR:

I was born at Northside hospital, but my Grandma Valsi emigrated from Finland. My Grandpa Valsi’s mother emigrated from Italy. Somewhere along the line, my mom’s folks emigrated from Germany and England. Two of my dearest friends are immigrants.

Have you ever spoken with a first-generation immigrant? They are seriously some of the hardest-working people I know — they beat out me and my family — and brother — we are hardworking people with strong blue-collar roots that span centuries. I would be easily outworked by my immigrant friend, the civil engineer — let’s call him “E” — the statehouse intern I had the privilege of supervising. He is/was undocumented — his mother brought him when he was a baby. She worked picking produce every season somewhere near Toledo. “E” would work at a warehouse for six months to save up for one semester at Ohio State, where he had excellent grades to get in, but because he is undocumented he did not qualify for financial aid or student loans. He still has no path to citizenship even though he has lived in Ohio since he was a year old. He has only ever known life in Ohio.

Every immigrant I have known personally — probably has contributed more to the tax base than I have in my lifetime. And until they gain citizenship — they cannot benefit from things like Medicare or social security — but their wages are taxed to pay into those systems for the benefit of Americans.

Immigrants are not the problem. They are not your enemy. Look elsewhere. Probably look toward the people pointing at immigrants.

JESSICA VALSI

Youngstown