Letters to the Editor

Schools, seriously?
Remember the “good old” days when students and staff in our public schools ONLY had to worry about fire, storm, lockdown, and shelter-in-place drills AND the threat of mass shootings during the school day? Thanks to President Trump, Homeland Security advisor Miller,

Homeland Security Secretary Noem, ICE director Lyons, Border Patrol chief Bovino, and Border czar Homan, these students and staff now additionally face having their school buildings and grounds being invaded and “secured” by para-militaristic ICE agents, Border Patrol agents, and Homeland Security investigators. Followed by threats of unwarranted detention and unsupervised interrogation then being considered “Domestic Terrorists” if they show any resistance or defiance.

The Administration-imposed quota of 3,000 immigration apprehensions per day has turned the Trump-Miller-Noem quest to remove the “the worst of the worst” of the illegal alien population from the United States into, at best, a massive, out of control, chaotic dumpster fire of profiling and detaining U.S. residents based on skin color and/or accent. THEN they decide whether or not to process each as an illegal alien. This has sadly resulted in, after last week’s killing of Renee Good, a “shoot first, ask questions later” style of enforcing orders.

Seriously, does anyone expect that the “worst of the worst” are going to be high school students, day care workers, day laborers in home improvement store parking lots, people showing up for their scheduled immigration court dates? These are examples of the absolute lowest hanging fruit on the tree and the ones most unnecessarily being subjected to the militaristic tactics and tendencies of these Homeland Security operations officers.

Let’s agree that kids at school have enough to worry about: homework, tests, being a teenager, dating, their family situation, relating to their teachers, relating to other teenagers, extra-curricular activities, and a thousand other things in their developing brains and lives. How about we give them a place to deal with those stresses in their young lives without adding confronting a para-military force with little or no boundaries on causing fear to them and their schoolmates to the list?

Whatever these Homeland Security forces are doing or supposed to be doing has become a mystery to everyone but them and their leadership because they are not coordinating any of their efforts with local law enforcement, until after the fact or when something tragic happens.

It’s time to clean up your act, Homeland Security. Secretary Noem, your department has plenty and specific duties and responsibilities spelled out by Federal law to legally perform, all within 100 miles of an international border. Don’t tell us what we’re seeing and experiencing is not happening, it is.

ICE out for Good.

Release the Epstein files.

Do something.

Tony Lanning, Brookings

Hess wrong about constitutional convention
Dear Sir: I would like to submit a rebuttal, of sorts, to the article in last week’s Brookings Beacon dated January 14. I’m referring to the article written by Dana Hess titled, “A new session brings old issues back to the legislature”. 

In the section of the article where he was talking about a national Constitutional Convention, well, he has it all wrong. First, he misstated the resolution number —It is not SJR 502, it should be SJR 503. And he has the whole idea wrong on what it is all about. It’s about a resolution to have an Article V Convention of States. (check out conventionofstates.com).

This is not a ‘Constitutional Convention” at all. It’s a convention of states where there will be amendments proposed to the present Constitution, and these amendments are not intended to change the whole Constitution, but to add to it and make it work for the people.  One such proposed amendment would be for term limits for Congress and bureaucrats that are appointed (not elected). Another such amendment would be for fiscal restraints, and possibly a balanced budget. These amendments that are proposed at this convention, then must be ratified by three fourths of the states in order for them to become law. Mr. Hess didn’t do much background research to see if he had all the facts straight, and I’m trying to remedy this oversight to clarify what he was ‘trying’ to talk about. I think that if you are going to be submitting articles in a newspaper, first you should check out if all of what you have heard is true, or if what you read is from a reliable source.  Readers can check out what I have said and written on the Convention of States website that I have referenced in this letter. 

Boone Posey, Bruce