The ingenuous statements by DHS Assistant Secretary of the Office of Public Affairs, Tricia McLaughlin, as quoted in the Sept. 12 Gazette report on the apprehensions in Easthampton, that “ICE is arresting rapists, child abusers, drug traffickers, and other violent thugs” makes a mockery of every state and local jurisdiction’s system of justice. McLaughlin says that “Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, nowhere is a safe haven for criminal illegal aliens. If you come to our country illegally and break our laws, we will hunt you down, arrest you, deport you, and you will never return.”
A fundamental tenet of American justice is that people are innocent until proven guilty. So who is breaking the laws of this country, then, by assuming that people who may be living in our communities without immigration authorization are guilty of felonies — for which, of course, they will never be tried. Such trumped up claims and charges are just that. Donald Trump and his minions aren’t interested in real justice. They are only interested in stoking the fires of hate and fear in order to keep getting elected by those who have swallowed their Kool-Aid.
Scott Barton
Pelham