This letter is in response to Gary Lvov’s and Jeff Dover’s letters of April 13.

The letters acknowledge the significance and heritage of my name. My grandfather fled Armenia in the early 1900’s. His family and 1.5 million other Christian Armenians were slaughtered by Turkish Muslims.

So with this history, I should be “entitled” to be anti-Muslim. However, I realize that hating the Muslims hurt me and that the vast majority of Muslims are peace-loving. Donald Trump seeks to generate fear and threatens the mass deportation of Muslims when there is no basis to warrant these draconian measures.

Fear of terrorism should logically be based on its threat level. From 2004 to 2014, for example, there were 151 deaths from terrorism in the USA. During that same period there were 344,893 auto fatalities. Hence, we are 2,284 times more likely to die as a result of an auto accident than an act of terrorism.

Similarly, the fear engendered by talking of an invasion from Mexicans is irrational. Many in this country feared the immigration of the Jews, Poles, Germans, Irish, Japanese, Chinese, etc. They, like the Mexicans of today, have made and are making the country stronger. The country benefited from these immigrants just as we are and will benefit from Mexican immigration.

Besides, during the time period 2009-2014, one million Mexicans left the USA whereas 870,000 Mexicans entered the US. The fear of hordes crossing our border is irrational.

Donald Trump brings out basic, coarse and crude feelings instead of making and encouraging reasonable and rational judgement. His egotistic “I know better than anyone else” reasoning is not restricted to race and immigration, but includes foreign policy and economics.

We should understand that he is playing on our fears. For him, rational evaluations are unimportant.