Great letter from Ann Dausch in last week’s Times! She and other local residents have seen the effects of our government’s inhumane policies firsthand, as they’ve offered hospitality to refugees just released by ICE. Gary Zuanetti and David Adler, however, only parroted the Trump false claims in their letters.

Gary blamed the immigration crisis on Democrats but the bipartisan “Gang of 8” passed a comprehensive immigration bill years ago and it was Boehner who let it die in the House. And, while McConnell refused to even bring up for a vote in the Senate any of the many bills Democrats passed through the House, Pelosi got a very unpopular but much-needed bi-partisan funding bill passed. Given this, which party do you believe is trying to solve our immigration problems?

Money won’t solve all the problems, though. The punitive mindset must change.

The idea that Democrats want to bring in more immigrants to vote for them is without merit. First of all, many Latinx citizens vote Republican due to the abortion issue and, secondly, immigrants can’t vote until they become citizens – many years later in the best of cases.

David asked how anyone can blame the poor, overworked Border Patrol or ICE, who are just doing their jobs under difficult circumstances. I’ll tell you how! No amount of overwork or overcrowding justifies the sexual assault and humiliation of a 15year-old girl or the punishment of young boys by taking away their thin mats, leaving only the concrete floor to sleep on.

There’s a moral sickness permeating many employees of these agencies. Their actions demonstrate cruelty and abuse of power and those responsible must be removed. These children have done nothing wrong. They deserve to be treated with compassion and dignity and have their families reunited.

Security and kindness can coexist!