LETTER: It’s the law?

Reader Jack Oliver seems to believe that undocumented immigrants are criminals (July 21, “It’s the law”). Technically that’s true if you believe anyone who commits a misdemeanor act is a criminal.

But by that standard, we are obviously a nation of criminals.

Just observe the behavior of drivers on any stretch of roadway anywhere in the country, and you’ll see countless traffic law violation by nearly every driver on the road. And notice all the trash along the roadways. Littering is a crime. A misdemeanor.

Are we all criminals? And what about President Donald Trump thumbing his nose at the tax laws? It seems countless Americans on a daily basis choose the laws they want to follow and thumb their noses at the others, a fact which must cause Mr. Oliver much angst.

Those undocumented immigrants who have improperly entered the country may have committed a misdemeanor crime, but their transgression poses far less danger to other Americans than does the lawbreaking by all the resident legal citizens who choose to thumb their noses at traffic laws.

We may be a country of laws, but many people — from the president on down — pick and choose which laws they want to obey.