If anyone’s noticed a tear dripping down Lady Liberty’s cheek in New York Harbor, they’re not alone. Her iconic words welcoming immigrants to our shores seeking a better life now ring hollow as the Trump administration diverts hard-earned taxpayer dollars to outfit poorly trained ICE agents and expand deportations, often over mere technical violations such as overstaying government issued visas — the legal equivalent of driving with an expired license. Many of those targeted have been law-abiding, contributing residents for years, if not decades.
Certainly no one objects to deporting convicted felons. But what kind of a cruel government handcuffs and removes men and women who are lawfully awaiting asylum hearings, many of whom do essential work that others refuse?
What kind of government rips apart hardworking, loving families over technicalities, confines people in unhealthy and often filthy conditions and leaves those left behind in despair and, too often, destitute?
Instead of paying $50,000 signing bonuses to poorly trained, unaccountable ICE agents, why not train some of the thousands of laid-off government workers to help our foreign-born neighbors find pathways to citizenship? Now that Trump has tightened the border, why not rewrite the playbook to show mercy and encourage assimilation? Isn’t that the better American way?
Lady Liberty might even crack a small smile.
Bill Higbee
Brunswick