The writer of "Illegal immigrant disconnect" (Sept. 8) asserts that immigration is required in order to maintain growth in a developed society. My question is why do we want to grow? Is there a practical purpose to continue growing? If the economy requires population growth, we'll grow. We're in a period where our manufacturing base actually requires fewer workers, so why would we want to boost our population total? Do we really need more unemployed people in this country?

Matt