I found the recent Los Angeles Times editorial reprinted in the newspaper (“Care for unaccompanied kids,” Feb. 6) to be rather ironic, considering that the newspaper has mostly tended to print editorials promoting the policies that caused this exploitation.

When the Obama administration refuses to enforce our immigration laws and declares in essence that anyone who gets here will not be deported, then tries to give large numbers of them work permits without Congressional authorization, it is creating incentives for people to cross the border illegally, which ultimately leads to them being exploited. This is true even if they are “out of the shadows” because ultimately they are here to work, and under-the-table jobs are what make them attractive to employers.

Far from being compassionate, the position of the L.A. Times as well as this newspaper on immigration ultimately makes abuse of these people more prevalent.

Their entire unserious attitude is also on display in the ridiculous Alan Caron column “It’s the northern border that needs a wall” (Feb. 14). In it, Caron exaggerates the Canadian illegal immigration problem relative to the Central American one by dishonestly implying that all illegal aliens are visa overstayers (actual estimates are about 40 percent). He also ignores that this component is not the one addressed by a wall.

With the Feb. 18 editorial that lauds asylum-seekers as the solution to Maine’s aging demographics (which assumes of course with little evidence that most will become net taxpayers in the near future), and the Feb. 20 editorial by Bloomberg News advocating that more immigrants get citizenship, one thing is very clear — the newspaper is on a mission to replace Maine’s (and the entire United States’) current citizenry. One has to wonder why it is so hostile to the native population.

Michael Jose

Augusta