I found the letter to the editor by Harold Herrera that appeared in the May 14 edition of your paper extremely offensive, especially the line "It's not about Arizona legalism, it's all about Arizona racism".

Please let us look at reality on this situation. The AMERICAN CITIZENS living in Arizona are living under a state of siege by an occupying army of an estimated 500,000 Mexican citizens living in the state illegally, and while most of the individuals in this army are not committing crimes (other then being in this country illegally), there is still a large criminal element coming in with this group of people.

Rape, murder, kidnapping are seeing a massive increase and Phoenix, Arizona is fast becoming the kidnap capital of the world with Mexico City the only city with more kidnappings. Ranchers in the state of Arizona are living in a state of fear as a result of the large numbers of people trooping through their property, as a large number of them are heavily armed drug runners. Ranchers are having their property vandalized, their vehicles stolen, and many live in fear of leaving their homes unprotected, as they know that if they do the odds are good they could come home and find their homes broken into and property stolen by illegals.

They also are living in fear for their lives, as recent history has shown that those coming into this country illegally have no problem with shooting anyone whom they think might pose a problem for them. This law will have no impact on Hispanics in our government, military, media, sports and every capacity in our system if they are in this country LEGALLY, and Hispanics in Arizona will soon find out that this law has no effect on their day to day lives, as the only time the police will interact with them is if they break a law such as speeding, when the officer will ask for proof of citizenship such as a driver's license, and if the officer finds out they are in this country illegally, they will be sent back to Mexico.

The question that should be asked about this situation is what other country in the world is supposed to function with an open border, with no limits on who can come into the country? Why should the United States of America be the one nation in the world that cannot control who comes into the country? Mexico certainly controls who can come into their country.

Edward Towle
Des Moines