This is in response to the April 13 letter from Charles Vroman titled "Unemployed? Manual labor jobs are plentiful."

Mr. Vroman stated that illegal immigrants are going back home due to lack of jobs in the U.S.

Everywhere I go, I see large numbers of Latino employees and shoppers. They are going nowhere.

I agree that you can find work if you look hard enough, but since people who come here illegally are willing to work long hours for lower than minimum wage, these jobs are harder and harder to find.

Our strong middle class is dwindling because of this. The middle-class jobs are being eaten up by workers who are willing to work for little money. The result is that small-business owners, several in my family, are living in luxury they could not otherwise afford, and our middle class is disappearing.

Fifty years ago, when citizens were paid a fair wage, we had a strong middle class and business owners lived well, but nothing compared to the lifestyles they can afford today.

We had opportunities for better jobs. Why do we have to struggle to keep our heads above water?

Look at the countries that have no middle class. Do we really want to emulate them? I'm afraid to even look at the medical immunizations people don't have when coming here illegally.

Controlled immigration makes for a stronger U.S., but there is no balance here. What happened to our legal system?

Liis Seay

Spotsylvania