To the editor: I am not Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) constituent, but I am a 73-year-old American woman horrified daily by what ICE is doing to our country (“Senate is not ‘anywhere close’ to a funding deal as ICE fight intensifies,” Feb. 5).
Does Schumer think creating new regulations for current ICE employees will change their behavior? How will a name tag or an unmasked face prevent the gross civil rights infringements we see every day? How will body cameras worn by ICE employees alter the fractured moral compass of the agency, documented by the cameras of so many citizen journalists?
I ask Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) to please reconsider the stance they are taking. Please work harder to protect democracy by refusing to vote to fund ICE.
We don’t need baby steps — we need big, bold, courageous refusals to fund ICE. I hope Schumer listens to constituents and Americans who wish to abolish ICE. This is a moment when words are not enough. Be bold. Have courage. Be an authentic Democrat. Refuse the unreasonable funding bills proposed by the Republicans.
Anna Villegas, Smartsville, Calif.
