To The Editor:

For many of us, living in New Jersey is like living in the United Nations because of the diversity of our state’s population and its many immigrants. Many of our state’s residents, like me, celebrate and treasure our friendships, social and business relationships with the legal immigrants who have come to our state and community. Our legal immigrants have made significant contributions to our state’s academic, cultural, and business environments. Often they have taken leadership roles in our local civic and service clubs, business associations, churches, and academic institutions. Some have become famous. But those immigrants contrast sharply with immigrants who have shown disregard for our country’s laws by sneaking into our country illegally or overstaying their visitor’s visas. My many legal immigrant friends regard them, at best, as line-breakers.

For Judy Hutton, CEO of the YWCA, to refer to Princeton’s illegal immigrant residents as “undocumented immigrants,” in her letter to the editor published July 29 [“YWCA Applauds Mayor Lempert’s Stand On Princeton Remaining a Sanctuary City”], is just as absurd as calling a shoplifter an “undocumented shopper” or referring to an illegal drug dealer as an “undocumented pharmacist.” Those, like Ms. Hutton, who apparently favor shielding these lawbreakers by promoting sanctuary city status for Princeton, blur the language to confuse the discussion. The senseless and brutal murder of 24-year-old Kathryn Steinle on July 1 at a popular tourist destination in San Francisco allegedly by Francisco Sanchez should be a wake-up call. He is an illegal Mexican immigrant, who had been deported five times and convicted of no fewer than seven felonies, yet San Francisco’s sanctuary city policy shielded him from the justice that could have saved Kathryn Steinle’s life.

Let’s not unnecessarily put Princeton’s valued tourists and resident population at risk by shielding law-breaking illegal immigrants with so-called sanctuary city policies. It’s not “racial profiling” or denial of “justice,” as Ms. Hutton implies in her letter, to expect our residents to obey and abide by our country’s laws. Princeton police should cooperate with our federal law-enforcement organizations to help ensure the safety of those who are here legally and are obeying our nation’s laws.

Lewis Edge

Cleveland Road West