Toledo, OH — In multiple letters to the editor, Ohioans are reacting in outrage and anger to the immigration raid at Corso’s Flower and Garden Centers and the Trump Administration’s policy of separating children from their parents at the border. The following LTEs were published over the weekend in the Toledo Blade.
Chuck Salmon of Perrysburg wrote:
Mr. Trump has warned America that ICE must conduct [immigration] raids to rid our country of “drug dealers, dangerous criminals, and rapists,” along with the “animals.”
….How many MS-13 gang members were apprehended? How many rapists, drug dealers, and other dangerous criminals were taken in during the raid?
I ask myself one question: Do I now feel safer after the raid, or am I left to wonder what purpose these actions really serve and at what cost to the families involved?
Salmon’s point is underscored by an extensively researched piece in the Cleveland Plain Dealer which finds that native-born citizens are more likely to commit crimes than immigrants.
In fact, real stories of people impacted by the raid reveal that the government deployed 200 federal agents, K-9 units, machine guns, and helicopters to arrest humble agricultural workers, many of whom had been with Corso’s for decades. Listen to this speech by Rep. Kaptur for harrowing examples.
Ellen Greene Bush of Port Clinton wrote:
The Blade article quoted U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R., Urbana), who said that voters sent a clear message when they elected our current President: “They want the border security wall done, they want to end chain migration, they want the visa lottery, they want to deal with sanctuary cities.”
Not so. Some voters, not the majority, voted for Donald Trump, and not every Trump voter supports the aggressive, authoritarian atmosphere that Mr. Trump both tacitly and outwardly encourages. We are becoming a divisive country, stirring up animosity with people who are different from us, and being antagonistic both personally and politically.
Let’s not give in to this. We have to take a proactive stance to push against this anti-democratic attitude rampant among our politicians, but clearly not a majority view among our citizens.
Underscoring her point, Quinnipiac released a poll of 1,000 Ohio voters last week that finds a majority of Ohioans support creating a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
Meanwhile Shane Hughes of Perrysburg takes issue with the new Trump Administration policy of separating families at the border. He writes:
The policy of immigrant family separation is evil made flesh. Perhaps there are other words to describe a government doing this to asylum seekers and immigrants, but evil is the most precise.
This is a stain on America. We are better than this. I expect Bob Latta (R., Bowling Green) as my Congressional representative, to be better than this. He has the power to stop this. I expect him to use it.
History will judge him by this moment, and I will hold him accountable.
Nearly 2,000 children have been taken from their parents since the policy change took place. Incredibly, some kids have not even been returned to their families after the parent was deported. Colleen Kraft, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and other child welfare experts believe these experiences will have lasting traumatic effects on the children. She said: “The really basic, foundational needs of having trust in adults as a young child was not being met. That contradicts everything we know that the kids need to build their health.”
“Ohioans support practical solutions and value hard work. On immigration, President Trump promised to deport ‘bad hombres’ and instead he’s targeting agricultural workers and moms and dads of U.S. citizens. Ohioans can see that this is wrong and harmful to workers, families, and children,” said Lynn Tramonte, Director of America’s Voice Ohio. “People are coming together across the state to challenge these policies. Now, we need more elected leaders to really lead, instead of cowering in the corner or applauding Trump’s destruction of Ohio families.”