It’s up to Congress to rein in ICE’s excesses
Shaker Heights, Ohio: The latest news from Minneapolis paints a picture of a war-torn area where U.S. citizens exercising their constitutional rights of free speech and non-violent protest are being attacked by an independent “law enforcing” agency of the national government that seems to lack any respect for the rule of law or even the democratically elected local and state governments.
Presidential threats to invoke the Insurrection Act make the future look even darker. Lacking central restraint, we are left with a Congress that has failed to exercise its responsibility to wield the power of the purse. That doesn’t mean abolishing ICE; every country must enforce its immigration and customs laws. While asking it to act with wisdom is unfortunately unrealistic in the current climate, it should at least act within the law. Unfortunately, as I currently live in Ohio, I can’t count on Republican Sens. John Husted or Bernie Moreno for leadership. As a native New Yorker, I can hope that Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries block the upcoming Department of Homeland Security funding bill until ICE and Border Patrol are strictly constrained. No additional funding. No more so-called Kavanaugh stops in which federal agents can stop and detain a person based on their perceived ethnicity, spoken language and occupation. Such stops hardly pass the smell test for constitutional law, Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s attempt to walk his own words back notwithstanding.
Polls show that most Americans disapprove of how ICE handles its job. Act before others like Renee Good are killed. Restraint by voting no to unlimited DHS chaos should be popular in anyone’s home district. David Aron
Death & defamation
Windsor, Conn.: Jonathan Ross, the ICE thug who fatally shot mother of three Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, can pursue legal action for defamation against individuals who have labeled him a “murderer” online and in public remarks, said Tom Homan, the White House border czar, on the “Will Cain Country” podcast. In other words, the public is not allowed to exercise its First Amendment right to express its outrage over the senseless shooting of Good, or else live in fear of government-supported, monetary legal attacks against them. If this is not further evidence of the Nazification of America, I don’t know what is. Jonathan Brewster
Missing moderation
Clearwater, Fla.: As we celebrate MLK Day, I can’t help wondering what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would say about the violence in Minneapolis. As a man who preached peace and was opposed to violence, I doubt that King would approve. Since his death in 1968, the Democratic Party has changed dramatically, and King would never recognize what was once the party of JFK and Lyndon Johnson. My hunch is that he would urge Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey to tone down their rhetoric of demonizing federal agents and allow ICE to do their job of arresting criminal illegal immigrants. By doing so, the community would surely be safer. It’s a matter of common sense. If only King were alive. JoAnn Lee Frank
Lay in the bed you make
Lake Ariel, Pa.: So the mayor of Minneapolis states the federal government does not have or uphold the same values that the people of Minnesota believe in. What values are they? Fighting for illegal aliens. But they don’t fight or even question billions of their tax dollars being stolen because of the incompetent and ignorant politicians through fraud. They want murderers, rapists, child molesters and drug dealers roaming their streets. Pull the federal law enforcement out. Cut off all their funding and let them live in the garbage they love. Stupid is as stupid does. Some values. Joseph Beyhl
Rhetoric becomes reality
Ashburn, Va.: A lot of people thought it was a great idea when then-candidate Donald Trump demanded that ICE hire more agents to stop immigrants at the border and deport all the rapists, murderers and criminals he claimed were here illegally. We voted for him and for politicians that followed his lead. But ICE soon discovered that it’s difficult to tell rapists from peaceful, productive immigrants, and rapists are harder to find. But Trump being Trump, he demanded more arrests and deportations, so ICE complied, often with newly minted and poorly trained officers and raids at Home Depot and Walmart. It may have seemed like a harmless excess, but then ICE started arresting your friends and their families, and ICE reacted with lethal force when people tried to flee. Shootings and death have resulted, and some of your friends are now gone or living in fear. Mike Barrett
Friendly to fraud
Bronx: The justification the Trump administration has used — rooting out fraud — to withhold federal funds from programs designed to help poor people in Minnesota, and for sending thousands of poorly trained, masked, heavily armed thugs into Minneapolis and other places in that state is belied not only by the fact that terrorizing and detaining citizens and noncitizens alike in random sweeps is not the way investigators identify fraudsters, but also by the fact that since his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, Trump has pardoned dozens of people who were convicted of fraud. Some of them were found guilty of stealing millions, or tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars. Thanks to their pardons, they now do not have to pay a penny in restitution. One of the fraudsters he pardoned this year had received one from him in 2021 and had gone on to commit fraud once again. Miriam Levine Helbok
Historical memory
Toms River, N.J.: The governments of Europe will not cave to Trump’s bullying on Greenland. They remember what happened the last time they chose to appease an insane tyrant. Mary Evens
Intentional wasteland
Chatham, N.J.: Thank you for the multi-page Associated Press article contrasting Trump’s demented promises with stark reality (“Where Trump’s most startling vows stand,” Jan. 18). The photo of Gaza, instead of showing us the promised luxury hotel, depicts bombed-out apartments with bed sheets in place of window glass. That’s so residents don’t have to see the tent city where a generation of children will grow up hating Israel and its perceived ally, America. Not a desirable result, but one consistent with Benjamin Netanyahu’s and Trump’s “retribution” policies. Paul A. Denk
A new breed
South Windsor, Conn.: Kudos to Voicer (and fellow Nutmegger) Michael Eddy for his spot-on analysis of Trump and his handlers. Trump has no grounding in political ideology. He merely helps to advance Project 2025, the agenda of Stephen Miller, Russell Vought and others. They use him and he uses them. In return for his policy efforts, he’s rewarded with large sums of money. That takes care of the greed. Just as important is the narcissism. He gets to be on TV every day. Some aspects of Project 2025 may be reasonable, but the performance-art style by which it’s implemented, and his governance in general, is a chaotic disgrace. As a registered Republican, I yearn for the days of Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush and John McCain. In this administration, we can only prepare ourselves for the next round of retribution. John Gallup
Leaves a void
Lake Hopatcong, N.J.: What happened to Bob Raissman? His column was excellent and is missed by sports fans. Ty Gonabe
Support nurses
Manhattan: I experienced the importance of safe staffing for nurses when a high-risk pregnancy landed me on hospital bedrest at what is now Mount Sinai West Hospital (formerly Roosevelt Hospital). Living in the maternity ward for more than two months and later visiting my fragile baby in the neonatal unit, my son and I flourished due to the excellent care provided by front-line nurses. They deserve safe staffing, quality health benefits, protection from workplace violence, and the other key demands that have led them to strike. It’s unconscionable that Mount Sinai has unlawfully disciplined nurses for speaking out for safety — as well as threatening and firing other nurses in the leadup to the strike. Hospital management at Mount Sinai, Montefiore and NewYork-Presbyterian must immediately stop union-busting, cease using patient care as a bargaining chip and agree to a fair contract now. Amy M. Traub
