Dear Editor,

I am writing in response to the opinion piece Illegal immigration harms citizens and immigrants alike. 

It states, “At the start of 2023, the cost of illegal immigration for American taxpayers was approximately $150.7 billion”. This statement comes from FAIR, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a right-wing organization founded by white nationalist and eugenicist John Tanton. It is classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a non-profit in Montgomery, Alabama, that has been at the forefront of suing white-supremacy groups such as the Ku Klux Klan since the 1980s. 

As a newspaper that informs the NDB community of school, local, and national news, the information printed must be verified. Misinformation can be incredibly hurtful to both readers and the communities that are affected by the statement, in this case, immigrants.

For the Catalyst to remain aligned with the Hallmarks of a Notre Dame education and maintain journalistic integrity, the piece should be rewritten using reputable data from objective sources rather than organizations with political agendas like FAIR. This aligns with Hallmark 3: We educate for and act on behalf of justice, peace, and care for all creation, especially due to the decades of work that the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur have completed with the immigrant community in California. 

Thank you for your consideration, and I appreciate the opportunity to share my concerns about educating the NDB community on such a contentious topic.

Sincerely,

Anna Fox ‘26