“And so, it Begins” — King Theoden in “The Two Towers” from The Lord of the Rings trilogy
Mass deportations of 11 million people have started.
I believe this will be a shameful stain on the soul of America, ranking right up there with slavery, the genocide of Indigenous people and the internment of Japanese Americans in camps during World War II.
The current leadership and his team cry that the undocumented are “illegal aliens who broke the law.”
This is rich coming from the first felon to hold the office of president, the same president who pardoned and released hundreds of violent, convicted Jan. 6 insurrectionists. The cabinet is no better — a group of people whose chief qualifications seem to be allegations of sexual assault, a prodigious capacity for lying and a willingness to leave one’s mind, conscience and spine at the door.
I support the deportation of “actual” criminals — the drug dealers, sex and human traffickers, thieves, rapists, etc. The orange pickers, not so much. Discernment between the two groups requires investigation and actual law enforcement, things this administration doesn’t care about.
For those undocumented who have peacefully lived here working their often back-breaking jobs, paying taxes, raising their families — make a pathway to legal status and citizenship.
This country’s leadership should be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. Deportation of everyone is not the answer.
Our country was built by slaves and immigrants, and immigrants are still building it. Immigrants work in agriculture, planting, harvesting, packaging, meat packing, milking. Do you like to eat? Immigrants work in forestry, hospitality, construction, restaurants, landscaping, caregiving in homes, care centers, hospitals and much more.
If you pull 11 million people out of these jobs, we are all going to feel it. This policy tears apart families, communities, economies and our nation.
This is not who we are as a country.
Some of my immigrant great-grandparents arrived here fleeing famine in Ireland. My Ashkenazi Jewish grandparents arrived from Russia and Eastern Europe looking to make a better life for themselves and their children. Their families who remained in Europe perished in the Nazi gas chambers. All that is left is dust. The decision to come to this country was one of life and death. It is the reason I am even alive.
I want that opportunity for the others who are already here and who are coming, a chance to build a life and make a better life for their children.
Deport the truly dangerous criminals. Build a bridge for legal status and a pathway to citizenship for immigrants. We did it before — even under Republican Ronald Reagan — and the world did not end. We can do it again.
Mary Jean Marsh
Chehalis
