LETTER TO THE EDITOR
To the Editor: Really? The Clark County Board of Supervisors needs a resolution to state the obvious? To proclaim that they are going to do what is expected of them? To declare that they will follow the law? Do you people have nothing better to do than create controversy, fear, and chaos?
This isn't about assuring residents that their elected officials will be following the law when the feds show up. As if you some how have a choice? Give me a break.
This is about sending a message to the voters that elected them, and to the target residents, that they fully support the policies and tactics of this administration. All hail the dear leader!
To be clear, when I say this administration, I am not talking about the orange buffoon who plays the role of POTUS in the bizarre fantasy/reality world that defines his presidency. No, he is too busy turning the White House gold, paving over the Rose Garden, putting up flag poles, and drooling over drawings of his glamorous 90,000 square-foot East Wing Ballroom addition.
The one pulling the puppet strings on immigration is none other than the sorry excuse of a human, life-long and devoted white nationalist and Deputy Chief of Staff, Steven Miller. Miller has been spewing his white supremacist rhetoric since his high school days and missed his calling by 100 years, back in the Homeland.
But I digress.
From the beginning of this administration, we have seen armed and masked federal agents, dressed as thugs (no identifying insignia), grabbing people off the streets and whisking them away. We have seen them in schools. We have seen them show up at immigration proceedings. We have seen them chasing workers across the fields of California. We have seen people deported against court orders and left there for as long as possible.
We have seen American citizens not only detained for weeks but actually deported. Just last week, we saw federal agents raid forest firefighter camps in Washington and detained dozens of (brown) firefighters while they looked for undocumented immigrants, not felons. They found two. When the crew asked to say goodbye to their friends, they were told to 'f* off'.
I find Rep. Hurd's remarks particularly absurd, out of touch and incompetent. First, if you are so concerned about nonexistent felons roaming the streets, maybe you ought to not vote for a felon for POTUS. To be clear, so-called sanctuary cities do not protect felons. I cannot imagine any non-sanctuary city doing so. Who is releasing convicted felon immigrants, whether they are here legally or otherwise, from custody back on the streets? Who?
Ten years ago, then-candidate POTUS came down his golden escalator and declared, “... and I assume some of them are good people.” This has never been about deporting “just the criminals.” It’s about deporting as many as possible, regardless of felonies. Rep. Hurd went on to say that POTUS has assured the Wisconsin legislature that he is going to provide a path forward. This statement is so absurd in so many ways. First, POTUS's word isn’t worth the paper it's printed on. Oh sure, he said farm workers and hotel workers would be exempt, but that statement was walked back shortly afterwards by immigration officials, “.. there will be no amnesty for farm and hotel workers.”
POTUS is not interested in immigration reform. Last year, after months of bipartisan talks, the largest immigration reform bill in 40 years was on track to becoming law when candidate POTUS pulled the plug on it because he needed a campaign strategy. Democrats’ hands were tied. Democrats could not afford to look weak on immigration; they had to make concessions they might not have otherwise.
Congressman Tiffany defended POTUS by claiming the bill didn’t go far enough! POTUS could have easily taken credit for getting the bill over the hump and not changed the outcome of the election. The ball is in the other court now. Good luck with that!
I have not heard one word yet about comprehensive immigration reform. POTUS would now need to negotiate with Democrats to pass reforms. This is a man who told his audience “I hate Democrats, I really do, I hate 'em, I hate 'em.” Weeks later, a gunman went hunting Democrats in Minnesota and left two people dead and two people severely injured. POTUS refused to call the governor of Minnesota. Why? And now you think POTUS is going to “work with” Democrats? Sorry, he doesn't do that. Never has, never will.
Comprehensive immigration reform is not happening. There will be no path forward for “the good ones.”
Rep. Hurd made sure to clarify that crossing the border is not a felony and that it is a civil offense. As they say down south, “Bless her heart.” I'm sorry, Karen, this isn’t about felonies, this is about skin color. It always has been.
You might think that this is much ado about nothing, that the worst that could happen won’t happen here. I wouldn’t be so sure of that.
Immigration enforcement agencies have just gotten a huge influx of money from the Big Ugly Billionaires’ Bill (now law). The goal is for 3,000 deportations a day or more than a million a year. Are there really millions of criminals out there? They are coming, it’s only a matter of time.
To the members of the board, we know who you are and we know what you said. These people went into an active fire zone and detained firefighters ( I assume state sanctioned contractors), for hours, and walked away with only two. Do you really believe that they are only coming for the criminals? I can only guess as to how many “criminals” they could find around here.
Ron Gutenberger Colby
