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When Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis started sending asylum-seekers north, it was seen as a political stunt, a way to embarrass the liberal Democrats who run big northern cities and get under their skin. Stunt or not, cities like New York and Chicago have felt the impact of this "strategy" to inflict pain on the targeted cities and using asylum-seekers as pawns. Cynical, but effective.

In Chicago, there are at least 15,000 asylum-seekers who have been thrown into a situation not of their making, and Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, demands intervention and money from the Biden administration to pay for housing and other needed support services ("Biden's border plan facing a breakdown," Oct. 8). Because Chicago has been unable to cope with the influx of people sent north, there are now about 1,500 people sleeping in police stations. Another 500 or so are stuck in airports, managing however best they can. School has started, but who is getting kids enrolled?

Minneapolis is a short bus ride away from Chicago. Winter is coming. It is just a matter of time before some, likely many, of the asylum-seekers now in Chicago will discover that the Twin Cities is a welcoming, hospitable place for migrants. When someone arrives here needing assistance, will we be ready? It seems to me that it is only a matter of time before the Twin Cities becomes a migration destination for asylum-seekers. What, if anything, have the City Councils of Minneapolis and/or St. Paul drawn up as a blueprint for dealing with potential demands on our local network of resources for housing, food and other social services that an influx of asylum-seekers will bring with them? Is any of this on the radar of the leaders of our two cities? The state? Will we be ahead of the curve or caught out like New York and Chicago have been, where people sleep on cardboard mats, and overwhelmed social services cannot cope?

Josh Gruber, Minneapolis

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The Biden administration announced the waiving of 26 federal laws to allow construction of 20 additional miles of border wall, the administration's first use of sweeping executive power in support of building more border barriers. This is not the leadership on immigration that we expected (and were promised) from President Joe Biden. Yes, the monthly rate of immigrant arrival is overwhelming in some places right now, especially in Arizona, Texas and New York, but if building the wall we have now (which NPR reports to have cost more than $11 billion, or $20 million per mile) has not been effective to slow allegedly "illegal" immigration, then it is ridiculous to spend another estimated $400 million for 20 more miles of wall. When asked last week if the wall was effective, President Joe Biden himself succinctly replied, "No." He was elected in part because of his strong pro-immigrant, anti-wall stance, promising that not one more mile of wall would be built if we elected him. And in 2021 he said the wall is not "a serious policy solution." Then why is he allowing more taxpayer money to be wasted on it now?

Although the number of immigrants this year is up, the immigrant share of the U.S. population is still just 13.9% — clearly not a case of immigrants taking over our country. The immigration growth rate during 2012-2022 is the lowest decade of immigrant growth since the 1960s. In fact, the U.S. ranks in the bottom third of wealthy countries for our immigrant population share, and we need immigrants. A writer from the right-leaning Cato Institute warns in USA Today that we have "slowing population growth, a massive worker shortage, a precipitous drop in the worker-to-retiree ratio, and a worrying exodus of skilled workers to nations like China." Surprisingly, Republican governors in Utah and Indiana have argued states should be able to sponsor immigrants, citing more than 300,000 job vacancies just in their two states. Historically we have thrived on immigrants. In other words, we don't need more wall — we need to figure out a sane way to admit immigrants and put them to work.

We need to drastically increase the refugee quota, raise the quotas on all other forms of legal immigration, expand our infrastructure to process more immigrants per month, disperse them to all 50 states (determined primarily by job need but also by available support services and housing), immediately create a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients (who are already here and working), as well as for the Afghan refugees who served our nation and on whom we are now turning our backs.

The immigrant situation is complex, but looking at the waste of lives given our current approach, let's step up and make a better way. President Biden, we're counting on you for leadership.

John Humphrey, St. Louis Park

In the war between Israel and Hamas, there will be no winners ("Israel declares war as fighting escalates," Oct. 9). At best, there will be survivors. After more than a thousand years of oppression, Israelis fought for, and founded, their homeland. Palestinians have been treated as less than human and subjected to privations in every aspect of their lives. It's not surprising they would rebel against such treatment. Both sides can be understood and have my most profound sympathy. And, both sides are full of blame and have my disgust.

The hard-line approach to suppressing Palestinian rights, curtailing their movement and making life harder to live won't end extremists' violence against Israel. After a thousand years of oppression, Israelis didn't give up. Why would they expect Palestinians to? Of all countries, Israel should understand that quashing hope creates despair, and when you have nothing left to lose, you will become very, very determined fighters.

Terrorism has never led to freedom. It leads to being crushed. Hamas has tried it often enough. By now, they should recognize that trying to terrorize Israelis will not lead to Palestinian freedom. It will lead to increased Palestinian suffering.

Both sides now have a choice. Freedom for both, or terrorism and destruction for both.

Many Israelis and Palestinians want a two-state approach. Of course Israel must maintain security and defensive capability unparalleled in most of the world. But focusing only on those measures, while continuing to build settlements and implementing policies and practices that add little security while making Palestinians' lives more miserable, will not end continuing violence and harm to Israel. At the same time, continuing to randomly kill Israelis will only assure that Israel tightens its grip on Palestine and the lives of Palestinians.

Vigorously focusing on publicly harnessing the assets of Israel, Palestine and their allies to work for peace, while also stopping provocative, oppressive actions, will take years to result in amicable relations between Israel and its enemies. Not taking those steps will result in years of continuing bloodshed, destruction and hatred. Palestinians will not have freedom. Israel will not have peace. The choice should be clear to both sides.

Gary L. Brisbin, Minneapolis

Just a P.S. to the Oct. 9 letter "A lack of continuity," about children unable to read cursive writing: In addition to grandparents' journals or letters from older family members, we can also point to the original versions of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution as unreadable to anyone unable to read cursive writing. That is unfortunate.

Matthew L. Rowles, North Oaks

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Just because the state of Minnesota says that teaching cursive writing is not required doesn't mean it's not being taught. I teach it to my third-graders a few times every week. Unfortunately, the opportunity to sit with a grandchild and read the letters to them while at the same time teaching them about family history across many generations while strengthening their bond seemed to be lost on Monday's letter writer.

Tom Intihar, Brooklyn Park