Letters to the Editor: Mass deportations aren't just cruel. They're expensive, too
But to clarify the cruelty aspect of what DHS and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are doing: They're not merely deporting people they determine shouldn't be in this country (without due process). They're deporting people to locations where they will experience a greater chance of torture and death. And they're doing this at a huge taxpayer expense.
Wouldn't deporting the people back to their home countries, likely at a much lower cost, make more sense? But it seems that imperiling their lives is more important than how much it costs. Truly American exceptionalism.
Les Hartzman, Los Angeles
..
To the editor: Human lives, the Constitution, her own dog: It seems they're all the same to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Get in her way and you deserve to be destroyed. Cruelty is one point, to be sure. Another is the risk we take in daring to challenge the head of a Cabinet department that is meant to protect, not endanger, us.
So much for democracy.
Joan Walston, Santa Monica
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Politico
27 minutes ago
- Politico
Iran won't attack the US but will continue nuclear development, senior Iranian official says
Iran launched a missile attack on the American Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar following the U.S. bombing. Qatari defenses successfully blocked the attack after Iran gave advance notice of the strike, a move that appeared to signal Iran's intent to deescalate the situation after a nearly two-week war with Israel culminated in the U.S.'s direct engagement. President Donald Trump projected a correspondingly conciliatory tone in the wake of the Iranian strike, posting on Truth Social a message of gratitude for Iran's advance warning and declaring that 'they've gotten it all out of their 'system.'' Trump — who has promised to end multiple raging wars in his second term, as he openly angles for the Nobel Peace Prize — has claimed that the U.S. attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities were a smashing success, saying the strikes 'obliterated' the facilities and railing against reports that the attacks only set the program back by several months. Iran has remained tight-lipped about the true impact of the strikes, prompting concern that the attacks have driven its nuclear program further underground. Already, the country has moved to halt cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, further shrouding its program from the globe. 'The damage is serious,' Takht-Ravanchi said of the American attack, without elaborating further. Iran, which claimed that it moved its uranium stockpiles in advance of the U.S. attacks, has also been unwavering in its determination not to relinquish its enrichment program, despite American demands that it do so in order to reach a nuclear deal. 'Our policy has not changed on enrichment,' Takht-Ravanchi reiterated to NBC. 'Iran has every right to do enrichment within its territory. The only thing that we have to observe is not to go for militarization.'
Politico
34 minutes ago
- Politico
Trump's ‘Big Beautiful Bill' blitz: Carrots, sticks — and a July 4 victory
Minutes later, House members were told they would soon move forward with a rule vote needed to advance the legislation. Both were the byproducts of an agreement between Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson that it was time to move the bill forward even as they pressed holdouts, according to the second White House official. Trump kept close watch on the board as votes rolled in, calling senior staff for updates and asking them who he needed to call. At one point, Johnson got him on the phone with a group of holdouts, and Trump was adamant about pressing forward Wednesday night to deliver the vote, the official added. 'We called the rule because we knew we would have the votes but that we would have to grind out the right flanks,' the official said. The White House used the threat of primaries — echoed publicly by the president on social media — to pressure holdouts into backing the measure. Last week's announcement that Trump's political operation has built a $1.4 billion war chest ahead of the midterm elections was 'no coincidence,' the first White House official said. The White House also used recent events — including the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, getting Canada to back off of a new tax on American technology companies and the promise of imminent trade deals — to create a sense of momentum and an image of the president as an unstoppable force, daring Republicans to get in his way. White House aides and allies said that Republican members would have looked particularly bad stalling the legislation as the president heads to Iowa Thursday evening to kick off a yearlong celebration of the country's 250th anniversary. But Trump and his advisers also offered carrots to GOP holdouts, including promises to the House Freedom Caucus to re-enforce what's in the text with executive orders, according to four people with knowledge of the discussions. 'There are provisions in the law that will be supercharged or strengthened from administrative action,' said one of the people, who is close to both the White House and Hill Republicans. White House aides and allies are drawing a sharp contrast between the bill's passage and the way things played out in 2017, when Republicans failed to repeal Obamacare. In particular, they credit Blair for coordinating the White House's political and legislative affairs teams for maneuvering the bill through.
The Hill
40 minutes ago
- The Hill
Senate Democrat: Nation would be ‘sicker, hungrier, and less well-off' if GOP megabill passes
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) ripped the GOP's 'big, beautiful bill' Thursday as the House scrambles to get the reconciliation package to President Trump's desk by a July 4 deadline, claiming the U.S. would be 'sicker, hungrier and less well-off' if it is signed into law. 'Once Americans realize the real cost of this bill, they will be angry, because it's going to impact every American,' Coons told CNN's John Berman on 'CNN News Central.' 'Our health care costs will go up, our emergency room wait times will go down, and our nation as a whole will be sicker, hungrier and less well-off as a result of this bill,' he added Thursday. The Delaware Democrat's comments came after House Republicans overcame a dramatic procedural vote overnight to advance the massive spending and tax bill. Trump and party leaders have leaned heavily on the holdouts to come on board ahead of the final vote — when the GOP can only stand to lose three votes total. The president also spoke by phone to a handful of GOP lawmakers early Thursday morning, after asking skeptics in the party in a post online, 'What are you trying to prove???' As the House prepared for a final vote on the sprawling package, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) took to the floor to give his 'magic minute' address. The hourslong speech broke former Speaker Kevin McCarthy's previous record for longest floor speech in the lower chamber — speaking out against the GOP megabill for 8 hours and 44 minutes, and delaying the vote. Democrats have vehemently opposed the bill in both chambers for its extended tax breaks they argue benefit the wealthy as well as sweeping cuts to Medicaid, the federal food stamp program and green tax credits. Critics on both sides of the aisle have also pushed back against an expected increase to the national debt. 'Jesus fed the hungry, healed the sick, and loved His neighbors — we're told to do the same,' Coons wrote earlier this week on social platform X. 'But the GOP tax bill that just PASSED serves billionaires while starving those who need support the most,' he said, referring to the Senate-passed version of the bill. 'It's immoral and unfaithful.'
