New York Times made an appalling judgment call

The New York Times newspaper (June 16, 2015) took a few sensational stories of Irish J1 visa users to distort the experience we gained from summer jobs in the US.

They had no regard for the victims of what was substandard construction approved by city inspectors. If building codes were enforced, structural collapse would not have caused these deaths.

I came to the US on J1 visas in 1984 and 1985, with five fellow University College Dublin students. I worked on a horse farm in Ocala, Florida, where I returned with my cousin the second year. We both worked like Trojans, required minimal supervision, added energy to the farm crew, and made life-long friends and memories. One of those friends is my wife, an Alabama native, with whom I have lived and worked for the past 27 years.

We ‘partied’ a bit with our American friends, but mostly went to the beach, grocery store, mall, drive-in, or wherever they went. We learnt about America.

John Paul O’Driscoll

Harvest Loop

Prattville

AL 36066