I was puzzled that the writer of the guest column “Security, food would head off migration” in the Gazette’s Aug. 15 edition failed to mention a key driver of immigration to the U.S., the massive sanctions imposed on countries whose politics we abhor or whose resources we covet.

For example, the U.S. has imposed sanctions on Venezuela that, according to a recent report in the Washington Post, are likely responsible for a spike in immigration from that country. If the Biden administration really wanted to improve the livelihoods of the citizens of Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba, etc., they would stop sabotaging their economies through sanctions.

David King

Amherst