Editor, Daily Nexus,

Casey Thormahlen’s argument that immigrants are getting a free ride (“Immigrant Rights Protesters Are Not Honest in Debate,” Daily Nexus, May 2) is refuted by empirical evidence. According to a recent RAND Corporation study on health spending in the United States, foreign-born residents, particularly the undocumented, use significantly fewer medical services relative to their population size than citizens born in the U.S. To clarify the statement, immigrants – especially so-called illegal immigrants – use far fewer medical services than their U.S.-born counterparts.

Thormahlen’s “shoot from the hip”-style arguments are usually unsubstantiated. These rationalizations should be dismissed because of their chauvinistic and racialized nationalism.