Letter of the day: Colbert may be a comedian, but his message is no joke

I applaud Stephen Colbert for supporting immigration ("Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert to testify on Capitol Hill about immigration, farm workers," Sept. 23). America needs immigrants as badly as they need to be in our country. We have an aging population, and we need more young workers to support Social Security and Medicare. I am a baby boomer and am not getting any younger. I've tried to stop aging, but it hasn't worked. I have marched with some immigrants from the Cathedral to the State Capitol. They were peaceful, but I had to avoid walking over the small children and running into their strollers. Their point is they want to raise their families here. I know that we need to register people, and that we don't want criminals, or drug and arms traffickers. What we do need is people who work hard to become citizens, and who will support our aging entitlement programs. I don't see why if someone is registered and works here for seven years and pays their taxes, they don't automatically become a citizen. They've earned it. BARBARA KRUSCHEL, CAMBRIDGE, MINN.