To the editor:

This year’s run for the White House has generated an unusual amount of controversy, most of it generated by our reality show political star, Donald Trump. The Donald leads in the count and looks to arrive at the Republican convention with the lion’s share of delegates and his uncanny ability to channel supporters’ fears, especially about the issue of immigration. In particular, he has famously branded Mexicans as rapists and drug dealers, and promised to build a wall on our southern border.

Of course, Ted Cruz (and Marco Rubio earlier) has made valiant but unsuccessful efforts to keep up with Trump in the bash-the-immigrant game. However, The Donald, Ted and Marco all have one other thing in common when it comes to talking points about immigration: They have all failed to mention one group that is crossing our border with Mexico in the tens of thousands a year. And once these migrants present themselves at the border in El Paso or Laredo, they are quickly processed, given legal status and eligibility for government benefits, with permanent residency granted in a year.

So what immigrant group have Donald, Ted and Marco failed to mention? If you said Cubans, you’d be right. Since the mid-’60s, special congressional legislation has given any Cuban who sets foot on U.S. soil the right to stay. Which raises the obvious question: Why have the presidential candidates neglected to mention this group while continuing to batter Mexicans – when Mexican immigration has actually been a negative number in recent years?

Both Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are sons of Cuban immigrants, so it makes sense that they would be reluctant to call attention to the special privilege their families enjoyed. But what about The Donald? Why wouldn’t he raise the issue? I can see a reason not to kick over the hornet’s nest before the results of the Florida primary are in, since Cubans exercise major political influence there. But the Florida primary is long over, so why not comment on the special status of these Spanish-speaking immigrants now?

Could it be that The Donald is uninformed about the issue? Hard to imagine that, but he is so misinformed on so many aspects of the immigration issue that this actually seems credible. For example, guess what country had more people overstay their visas here than any other last year? If you said Canada, you’d be right again. With more Mexicans leaving the U.S. now than coming in, maybe we should build that wall along the St. Lawrence and get Canada to pay for it.

Kirk Peterson

Lake Clear