This is in response to the letter from Lewiston Mayor Robert Macdonald (March 31).

How dare he refer to my friends, who have sought asylum here, interlopers. They are people who suffered greatly, who seek safety for themselves and their families. If he would listen to their stories as I do, he would weep, as I do.

It is with gratitude for all I have that prompts me to live generously. My hope is that, some day, they will know prosperity and be able to live without fear. I contribute to that end as best I can.

Interlopers are persons who mean harm. Asylum-seekers are kind, passionate people who seek only to live as we do, to contribute to their new community, to earn their own keep and educate themselves in our ways.

I understand their arrival places a financial burden on the city, but would anyone want anything less for himself? They are not ne’er-do-wells. They are not interlopers.

Macdonald should look up the meaning of the word.

Claire Hebert, Turner