Opinion editor's note: Star Tribune Opinion publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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Regarding "Jensen, Birk resist release of tax info" (Sept. 2): Matt Birk asked, "Does anybody really care?" Scott Jensen said inflation and crime are issues that concern Minnesotans and that "We aren't interested in diluting that with a political sideshow."

Well, you could knock me over with a feather. Imagine honesty and transparency being something voters don't care about in their politicians. Imagine honesty and transparency being political sideshows to the "real" issues. Don't that beat all?

One step further: Mr. Birk, maybe nobody would have cared if you cheated on your taxes when you played for the Vikings, but you are running for the second-highest office in Minnesota, not trying out to play football. Mr. Jensen, if you're comfortable with not being open about your taxes — when, oh, by the way, voters pay the governor's salary with their taxes — I wonder what you were comfortable with when you practiced medicine? Just saying.

And don't look so shocked. I'm not implying anything about either of you. You did that all by yourselves.

Marjorie Rackliffe, Hopkins

It is not surprising that Jensen and Birk are refusing to release their tax returns. In doing so they are simply following in the footsteps of their political idol, Donald Trump. But Trumpism was defeated at the ballot box in Minnesota in 2016 and 2020. No doubt if this dangerous ideology loses again in 2022 the Minnesota GOP will claim fraud and, like Trump supporters in 2020, will not feel the need to supply any evidence of their claims except to say that, "Everybody I know voted for Trump! How could he have lost?" According to the new Republican credo, either they win or the other side cheated. It is inconceivable to them that a majority of people could vote against GOP candidates just because their policies are unpopular and their candidates are extremists and kooks.

David Landry, Roseville

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Why should I care how much money a candidate for office made in the past year, and how they made it? Why should I care about the deductions they claimed, how much they paid in taxes and how that compares with others in the same income bracket? Why should I care how much a candidate gave to charity and to which charities?

Billy Graham once said, "Give me five minutes with a person's checkbook, and I will tell you where their heart is."

Roland Hayes, Shoreview

How unfortunate the letter writer of "About those vaccination concerns" (Sept. 5) didn't thoroughly read the letter "This can't go on" (Sept. 2) before accusing the first writer of dog-whistling and hypocrisy. If some GOP supporters don't believe in vaccinations (I disagree with them also), is it hypocritical for anyone to be concerned about unvaccinated migrants? Should we admit unvaccinated migrants just to prove we are not "anti-immigrant"?

The first writer also emphasized the problem of improper vetting (as a country of law and order, shouldn't we know who is entering?), cartel-imported fentanyl causing more deaths than guns, and millions entering unauthorized. (Isn't an unprotected border itself a hypocrisy?) He was concerned about asylum procedure, wondering where illegal migrants end up, but did not, as accused by the second writer, blame migrants "for numerous social ills."

The second writer used the first's letter as a springboard to criticize a differing view and to hatefully jab the GOP. According to a recent NPR poll, an increasing number of Democrats as well as Republicans are concerned about enforcement, showing there are many "who actually hold these beliefs." With dozens on the FBI terrorist watch list so far being apprehended (along with cartels victimizing migrants with rape and murder — what the second writer terms "apparent criminal activity"), it is common sense for all citizens to be concerned.

Richard Schmitt, St. Paul

The letter writer of "This can't go on" makes an effective point that our country needs stronger border security to maintain our national autonomy. This includes a bigger wall. But he fails to mention the more important border issue — we need a much, much bigger bridge.

According to the Brookings Institution, forced migration from Central America is driven by violence, corruption, lack of opportunity and — increasingly — climate change. Climate-related crop failures and food insecurity are at the root of many of these issues. The fact is that many refugees from Central and South America are knocking on our door because of our climate crisis. These numbers will only increase as the Andean glaciers, which millions of South Americans depend on for year-round potable water, disappear. The World Health Organization estimates that we will see over 200 million people forced to move because of climate change by 2050.

The biggest tragedy of our climate crisis is that the countries that have done the least to cause it are experiencing the brunt of its effects. We've known for over 50 years that the fossil-fueled development of our first-world infrastructure in the U.S. was coming at a great cost to our global climate. With only 5% of the world's population, the U.S. has produced a third of the excess carbon in our atmosphere. It doesn't take a math professor to estimate the millions of climate refugees that we have an obligation to help.

We should not be improving our physical border integrity without also having the moral integrity to address our share of these climate refugees.

Mark Andersen, Wayzata

The hair-on-fire letter writer of "This can't go on" shared his outrage over his perceived failure of the Biden administration to contain illegal immigrants from entering our country. He spewed a number of alarming statistics. He wants us to return to the good old days when, under Donald Trump, our border was "secure." During those imagined better days the Trump administration separated over 5,000 children from their families at the border with no tracking process in place to reunite them with their parents. Is that what he wants us to return to? No, thanks.

Doug Williams, Robbinsdale

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Much admiration for the writer and appreciation to the Star Tribune for printing "This can't go on." The writer is correct about everything — massive numbers violating our southern border, improper vetting, no concern about COVID vaccination among those who will probably never honor court dates for asylum hearings but live illegally in our country. (Who pays their health care; whose jobs are they undercutting by working for less? The unskilled and most disadvantaged — Black people and American Hispanics, of course.)

As stated, the most dangerous issue, cartels controlling our border and importing fentanyl, is ignored by the press even though an article on the huge increase in fentanyl deaths was in the Star Tribune just months ago — no connection made to lack of border enforcement.

President Joe Biden's open-border policy enables cartels to exist and get filthy rich while killing migrants. Cartels have eyes and ears everywhere, control everything and pay everyone off. We must ask: How long until they control our Southwest, killing public officials as they do in Mexico? Our patriotic, American-citizen, Hispanic border agents (bilingual, sympathetic, often rescuing migrants) who put their lives on the line are tired of being discouraged by no support from the administration. This truly can't go on. If we don't control our border, cartels will.