Good neighbors

The former occupant of this seat is now in charge of a department whose main objective is to remove the hardest working residents of this great nation.

Most conversations I have with supporters of our current president start with the idea that they wanted the non-citizen criminals out of our country. I agree with that goal. The next part of the conversation nearly always moves to how they are disappointed that ICE is raiding worksites and focusing on deporting women and children.

We have seen residents detained at their naturalization ceremonies and from their court appearances as they show up to do things the right way.

Once detained they are held in purposely cruel conditions and deported without the due process that is guaranteed to everyone by the Constitution. From Alligator Alcatraz to SECOT, we keep finding new heights to our cruelty.

I would under no circumstance be a Yes vote for ICE appropriations while we continue this shameful and lawless practice. I would be a Yes vote to claw back appropriations that are supporting ICE as it currently exists.

I would support increases in Judicial resources to process the immense backlog of folks that want to be a part of this community. Votes to increase the quotas of immigrants to our country would have my support. We need to grow our base of taxpayers and welcome the hardest working people in our country out of the shadows and into the light.