I was disappointed at Jonette Christian’s anti-immigration commentary (“Maine Voices: Rethinking the future – how much growth do we want?” Feb. 24), partly because it was not placed into context. I wonder how the Somalis, Angolans, Ukrainians, Congolese and others who have found shelter in Maine feel. Christian has been on a crusade to curtail immigration to the United States for at least 10 years with opinion pieces in publications from California to Maine.

In her evolution of the argument to slow or end the flow of foreigners to our shores, Christian has attacked every argument possible: greedy employers, corrupt or spineless politicians, the national debt, crumbling infrastructure, crime, overpopulation and the environment. Which makes her a latter-day apostle of the British economist Thomas Malthus, who postulated in 1798 that populations would outgrow our ability to sustain them. She is also channeling the 1969 book “The Lifeboat Is Full,” about Switzerland’s decision to block Jews fleeing the Holocaust on the grounds that the neutral country could not feed them.

Accelerating climate change combined with explosive population growth in Africa (thanks to our noble efforts to reduce deadly diseases) is going to set loose a tsunami of migrants seeking shelter. Europe and America are their lifeboats. Which will challenge our ethos of accepting “your tired, your poor” that has underscored our open doors. Are we really going to turn away drowning people from our lifeboat? Difficult choices make food for thought.

Larry Butler
Thomaston