Martha’s Vineyard not prepared

To the Editor:

In a letter to the Sentinel recently, a reader commented about the immigrants that were flown from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard. She described Martha’s Vineyard as, “one of the most exclusive places to reside in America.” Maybe yes and maybe no. The island has a year-round population of about 15,000 souls, who make on average about 71 percent of the wages of workers in the entire state of Massachusetts. They are just average, like you and me, serving the island in all the usual occupations. It is likely that these were the ones called upon to care for the immigrants. They had no resources and were not prepared for an unexpected influx of immigrants. Why should they be? So, they did the best they could, and within two days sent them to Joint Base Cape Cod, the nearest place with adequate facilities. The wealth of Martha’s Vineyard was hardly relevant.

A final point: The Opinion Page is not a good source for facts. It is an opinion page not fact checked by the editors.

Don and Harriett Richards

Fairmont