'It's Our Job to Stop That Dream'.

• Author: Janora, John
• Position: Letters - Letter to the editor

Comparing the large number of deaths along the U.S.-Mexican border with those along the Berlin Wall ("'It's Our Job to Stop That Dream'," April) is wrongheaded for two reasons. The first is that, unlike the technically unified Germany that the Russians and Stasi had walled off, the United States and Mexico are two separate, distinct nations and cultures.

The second is the type of "wall" that was put up. The reason so few East Berliners died attempting to cross the Berlin Wall is that so few tried, since a large concrete structure, razor wire, minefields, and machine gun nests ensured that success was all but impossible. Look what happened when the...