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Mexican authorities are encouraging migrants staying at a temporary shelter to move to El Barretal shelter in eastern Tijuana.GUILLERMO ARIAS/AFP/Getty Images

Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Try to keep letters to fewer than 150 words. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here: letters@globeandmail.com

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Walls of many kinds

Donald Trump has vowed that all asylum seekers will have to remain in Mexico while awaiting a response in their case. This is the latest in a slew of failed immigration policies that will do little to deter people determined to cross – whether to rejoin families separated by deportation, or to escape persecution in their home country – while simultaneously causing tremendous suffering.

I spent the last week providing legal support in a Mexican refugee camp, Barretal, set up to hold migrants from the latest refugee caravan. The camp is surrounded by federal police and the Mexican army, keeping migrants inside its walls for fear of deportation by Mexico, or attacks by politically activated neighbouring communities. The camp lacks running water, kids have nothing to do all day, and individuals sleep in donated camping tents organized side by side in an abandoned club.

However, more than the conditions of the camp, it is the constantly tightening border and shifting immigration policies that lead to hopelessness and desperation. Last week, the U.S. only allowed some 30 migrants a day to claim asylum, as more than 5,000 waited near the border. Made to wait in this camp – as Mr. Trump hopes all asylees will have to do throughout their one- to two-year asylum process – people are pushed to make rash, risky decisions, such as illegally crossing the dangerous U.S. border.

I hope Canada recognizes the immoral and irrational suffering caused by U.S. immigration policy and chooses a different path, welcoming migrants and refugees.

Sima Atri, human rights and immigration lawyer, Toronto

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It’s unfortunate for Donald Trump that he has so soured relations with China. It could have helped him build a wall that would last – after all, parts of its Great Wall have stood 2,300 years.

One section has as many as 70,000 tourist visits a day in peak season. Mr. Trump could imagine the Trump Wall, complete with statues and etchings of himself, attracting even more. But perhaps he thought he wouldn’t have benefited from China’s advice on wall building. A Latin American (and global) push-back movement could produce a leader like Republican president Ronald Reagan who would stand before the Trump Wall, echoing Mr. Reagan: Mr. Trump, tear down this wall.

Roger Smith, Lantzville, B.C.

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Donald Trump says he’s open to calling the wall something else. Perhaps he could consider “Iron Curtain” ?

Stephen A. Crocker, Edmonton

Hocking the future

Re Robbing The Future To Pay For The Present (editorial, Dec. 26): I have a suggestion. Perhaps we should fire all our politicians and hire a bunch of Norwegians in their place. Any Norwegian of voting age should qualify. After all, they elected their government, which gets it right (well, except for the whaling thing …)

Mark S. Suthers, Lanark Highlands, Ont.

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You contrast the size of Alberta’s Heritage Fund with Norway’s sovereign wealth fund. While there is no question Alberta could have saved far more than it did, there is also no way Alberta would have been allowed to accumulate a trillion dollars while the rest of the country fell into increasing debt.

The National Energy Program was imposed in the 1980s to make sure that oil wealth also flowed to the rest of the country. A strong case could be made that through equalization payments, Alberta’s Heritage Fund has effectively been distributed to the rest of the country, particularly Quebec.

John Sutherland, Victoria

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“Ottawa’s debt to GDP ratio is by far the lowest of any Group of Seven government and it’s falling.” This is a rationalization typical of baby boomers, the media and, in particular, the Finance Minister. Completely meaningless, it is so typical of the depths to which fiscal responsibility has fallen in this country.

Canada has subordinate governments with significant debt which, when added to federal debts, places the public debt in the stratosphere with the most irresponsible nations in the world, let alone the G7. Canadians have also amassed personal debts which dwarf similar fiscal positions among more responsible societies with similar economic characteristics.

Even if other societies were to surpass Canadians in total indebtedness, would that make this sick legacy more palatable? When boomers began to dominate the economy, the wheels fell off. Their record is reprehensible.

C. R. (Ray) Luft, Mississauga

Logan’s law

Re The Logan Boulet Effect: Crash Victim Spurs Movement (Dec. 26): At the time of the Humboldt Broncos bus-crash tragedy, I wrote about presumed consent regarding organ donation, where the onus is on the individual to opt out. This humane regime could save precious organs automatically.

The Boulet family has bravely shown the way to confront those difficult decisions. Maybe “Logan’s Law” on presumed consent could remove a roadblock to organ donation.

Karen Kingsbury, Pointe-Claire, Que.

12 days of Yule

Re I’m Dreaming Of A Heathen Christmas (Dec. 22): What is described here is not “Heathen.”

I am a Heathen. On Dec. 21, the winter solstice, I prepare an altar and make an offering of mead to Odin. This is the beginning of the 12 days of Yule, a very important time in the Heathen calendar.

Throughout the year, I endeavour to live by the nine noble virtues of courage, truth, honour, fidelity, discipline, hospitality, self-reliance, industriousness and perseverance.

“Heathen” should not be confused with “heretic.” Heathens do not lack religious beliefs. Our beliefs are every bit as strong as those of Christians, but our religion does not get the same level of respect, as is evident from this thoughtless headline. Whatever faith one has, one ought not to belittle that of others. Merry Christmas, and a joyous Yule. May Odin overlook you on the Wild Hunt.

Wendy Wishart, Sydney, N.S.

Ice, warmly remembered

Re Frozen In Time (Dec. 24): What a lovely image of a bygone ice harvest on your front page. I have fond memories of a time when “the iceman’s delivery” was a necessity, and well recall my mom putting a card in the front window of our family flat, a second floor rental in a downtown Toronto home. On one side of the card, in big, bold, bright blue type was the number 50. On the other side, in big, bold red type was the number 25. Every morning, the iceman came along in his open truck, looked up at the window, and if either number was visible would cut a chunk of ice, either 50 or 25 pounds, cover it with burlap, hoist it on his shoulder and carry it upstairs to our waiting icebox.

Being the eldest of three brothers – I was about 10 – my job before setting off for school was to empty the water which had dripped into a large pot at the bottom of the icebox from the melted ice. A family chore warmly remembered as I now approach 86 years of age.

Martin Meslin, Toronto

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