Your story "Young, All-American, Illegal" is riveting and heartbreaking (HCN, 8/16/10). It should be required reading and viewing by anyone involved in immigration issues, regardless of political stripe. And that means all of us.

I confess: The brouhaha surrounding the Arizona "show me your papers" debate didn’t matter to me, other than to rouse my unacknowledged bigotry. Here in liberal, white-bread Boulder, I figured that if "they" weren’t getting in trouble, then "they" wouldn’t have to worry about being found out. How thoughtless and arrogant I have been.
Cheers to the protesters who staged the sit-in at McCain’s and Feinstein’s offices. Their courage and determination put the rest of us to shame. The article and video opened my mind. When the protests come to my city -- as they must -- I’ll be on the lines with the kids.  

Jeannie Patton
Boulder, Colorado