Donald Trump and maga Republicans all directly related to immigrants but now they impose cruel deportations as punishment for innocent people

What will you do when they come for you?

Regarding “Closed immigration cases are being resurrected under Trump,” (July 22): I’m in awe — and deeply disturbed — by the growing number of people being deported from the so-called land of the free and home of the brave. (As the Trump administration intensifies its efforts to deport a record number of immigrants, Houston immigration lawyers are seeing an increase in the government’s efforts to resurrect cases that have been placed on hold, sometimes for several years. The legal maneuver to add an old case to a current docket isn’t new. But attorneys now think it’ll become commonplace as the Trump administration moves forward with its plans for mass deportations.)

The Statue of Liberty still stands in New York Harbor, holding her torch high as a beacon of freedom, democracy and hope. She was gifted as a symbol of friendship, built to welcome immigrants seeking a better life.

(Paul Pirela, a Houston immigration lawyer, said the government used to resurrect old immigration cases once or twice a year. He had one, in 2023, maybe two. Now, “it's probably, I think, four or five in the last two weeks,” he said.)

The Statue of Libery's torch represents enlightenment, the crown’s seven rays are thought to represent the seven continents and seven seas and the broken chains at her feet represent the end of tyranny and oppression. Her very foundation, in part, honors the abolition of slavery after the Civil War.

Many Americans still believe deportation is just about people from Mexico or Central America, but look again. Immigrants from Guatemala, India, China, Iran and Russia — people from every corner of the globe — are being rounded up.

So, to every immigrant, to every person of conscience, I ask:

• What will you do when it’s your turn?
• What will you do when you’re the one being harassed, threatened, jailed or cast out?

It’s time — past time — to break the cycle of hate and stand together.

Donald Trump made it clear: He has no love for immigrants in America.

This is not just about politics. It’s about justice, freedom and humanity.

What kind of nation are we becoming❓😔😞😠😯😥 

And will we finally stand together to reclaim the promise that Lady Liberty was meant to hold?

From J.L. Leonard, in Houston, Texas

Cult mentality succinctly defined

Echo opinion letter to the editor published in the Los Angeles Times: 

The Former Guy

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to characterize what’s currently occurring in this country as a “cold” civil war. And unfortunately, there are too many Americans, including some legislators in Washington, who would like to see it become hot. As far-fetched as that may seem, it is possible. Voltaire sagely captured this when he wrote, “Any one who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices.”

We know from history that fascism in its various forms is ultimately self-destructive, wreaking violence not only on those it opposes, but also on its purveyors.

Martin Niemoller’s poem “First They Came,” which laments not speaking up for other targeted groups, is worth considering at this critical time in our democratic experiment. It ends: “Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.”

From John Beckman, Chino Hills, California

Jihadis are psychopaths- ISIS fighters are dangerously delusional

Milo Yiannopoulos is a writer who has a lot of courage. He's calling the jihadis who join ISIS "pschopaths" who follow a genocidal ideology.   

He's calling ISIS out for being sick people who take barbaric actions against other humans for no reason, while they won't even take off their dark masks to show their identity. 

They're beyond psychopaths. These ISIS killers are evil subhuman creatures.

Milo writes in Brietbart- London: 

"We've all seen them in photographs. Swathed in black, standing triumphant but dispassionate over the dismembered victims of their genocidal ideology. No, I'm not talking about Hitler's SS: rather, the jihadis of ISIS. But ...the similarities are endless and hideously unsettling."

"Our understanding of Islamic extremism in all its psychopathic barbarism is the more vivid because....we mostly see these terrorists in their own words and pictures, via their own social media accounts. Like the Nazis before them, ISIS are masters of communication, deploying slick social media campaigns to spread the word of radical Islam. So we know what their objectives are. And we know that one of them is the eradication of the Jewish people."

"Hitler might have been the master of the radio soundbite and the public spectacle, but ISIS has a fluency with digital technology that gives them immediate and direct access to would-be jihadis. It's terrifying. And, as we watch on our computers and smartphones, we see history repeating itself, as Christians and Jews are threatened and then slaughtered throughout the Middle East. "

Although Milo rambles in his essay about the urgency of a decisive response to ISIS, the essence of his message is chilling.  

Quoting the anti-Nazi theologian Martin Niemoller, Milo sends a clarion message to those he feels are too complacent in the face of the growing ISIS threat to civilization: 

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Writing as a nurse, I can say that clinicians don't understand the mind of psychopaths, because there's no reasoning with their understanding of anything rational. They can create chaos from simple concepts, especially drawing concrete opinions about what creates good or causes evil. Humans who engage in beheading others without any provocation are somehow rationalizing a way to justify their barbaric actions. They are psychopaths.

Obviously, the human condition cannot continue to grow and prosper in a world held hostage by genocidal psychopaths.  

Milo is calling for an annihilation of all jihadis, drawing the analogy between them and Nazis. Yet, without clear boundaries about who these jihadis are, cloaked in black with knives and evil intent, it will be nearly impossible to eradicate them from the face of the earth.  My sense is, and Milo seems to agree, we must engage with the ISIS jihadis as though they are the subhuman creatures they portray themselves to be, motivated to destroy them by considering the consequences of doing nothing. 

Milo's gruesome reminder about "coming for us" is a reality; we clearly cannot allow this evil to continue. 

Jihadis are delusional enemies of humanity, intending to destroy all influence of human enlightenment. They're not Muslims. 

In fact, Muslims must be the first line of defense to destroy the jihadists. Unfortunately, Milo says jihad is part of Islam's religious beliefs. Therefore, it's difficult to conceptually separate out the jihad from the Islam doctrine.  

Nevertheless, the culture that created the Arabic number system should be able to identify the jihadis' threat to civilization as we know it, and destroy the ISIS psychopaths.