Letter: Student's really an American by now
In this Sept. 28, 2011, image taken from video, and provided by WCBS-TV, Nadia Habib, left, and her mother Nazmin are interviewed at their home in the Queens borough of New York. Nadia, a Stony Brook University student, and her mother will remain in New York for now as they fight deportation to their native Bangladesh, their attorney said Thursday, Sept. 29, 2011. Credit: AP
I am shocked at the mean-spirited tone of the letters regarding Nadia Habib, the woman who was brought to this country as a 1-year-old from Bangladesh ["Why the special treatment?" Oct. 13].
Habib is as American as you or I, except for her birth certificate. She would be just as much a stranger in her native Bangladesh as any native American. While I do not condone any illegal immigration, sending her back to her country of origin would be cruel and unusual punishment.
Her case screams for our government to pass the Dream Act. And isn't she exactly the type of immigrant we want in our country? Someone who has assimilated, is gaining an education, and who calls America her permanent home?
Roger Leonardis, Bayside
'I'm going to try to avoid it' A trip to the emergency room in a Long Island hospital now averages nearly 4 hours, data shows. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie reports.
