Amidst the sad news of the Bronx fire that brought tragedy to “an entire Malian and Muslim community” (“Horrific Blaze Unites Cultures in Rituals of Grief,” The New York Times, 10 March 2007), there was perplexity that the residents called relatives and tried to extinguish the fire themselves instead of calling 911 to get the firefighters.

Is it really any surprise in the climate of imprisonment and ruthless deportation that surrounds immigrants in America after 9/11 that a Malian or Muslim woman immigrant would hesitate to call 911? Pervasive legal threats to one’s family and livelihood will produce a reluctance to encounter officialdom in any rational person.

That New Yorkers’ hearts opened to these families is wonderful testimony to the ability of citizens to reach beyond the official paranoia and hostility of their national government. Mayor Bloomberg would do well to build on this heart-felt response to articulate the sound municipal reasons why an immigration policy of fear-mongering is dangerous to civic well-being.