LETTERS: Sickened by GOP using 800,000 ‘Dreamers’ as bargaining chips

SHARE LETTERS: Sickened by GOP using 800,000 ‘Dreamers’ as bargaining chips
borderwall1.jpg

U.S. Border Patrol agents are shown near the border wall at Friendship Park in San Ysidro, Calif. in November. | Sandy Huffaker/AFP/Getty Images

Members of Congress who want to spend billions of dollars to build a wall should be reminded that a wall is an inanimate object. The Dreamers, on the other hand, are living breathing human beings who have adhered to all of the rules in order to continue to live in the United States. The very idea that a wall should be in any way a bargaining chip in a political negotiation or equated with the lives of 800,000 Dreamers beggars belief.

The stance the Trump administration has taken regarding immigrants sickens me. When is this freak show of a Congress going to put itself in the place of people whose lives hang in the balance and do the right thing? Or is it their view that if you’re not white, wealthy and Republican you don’t count?

Regardless of color, race, religion or country of origin, we are all human and we all bleed red.

Barbara Minarik, Logan Square

SEND LETTERS TO: letters@suntimes.com. Please include your neighborhood or hometown and a phone number for verification purposes.

Why I won’t watch Superbowl

I loved football even before I played the game for Gordon Technical High School in the 1960s. But now that the NFL has decide that the AMVETS advertisement is not acceptable because of its message of “Please Stand,” I have decided I won’t be watching the Superbowl or supporting those who advertise during the game. I know I will not make a difference, but I hope many others will join me and, together, we will make a difference.

Dennis Rybarczyk, Park Ridge

Stop Asian carp now

I’m glad to see 14 Great Lakes mayors banding together in the fight for federal funding to create a barrier to Asian carp on the Illinois River at Brandon Road. The barrier will be a  crucial  component in the battle to keep the carp out of the lakes, but let’s not kid ourselves; it might not enough. Geese, ducks and other waterfowl carry fish-eggs, stuck in hair follicles on their legs, from one body of water to another. It’s an uncontrollable fact. The closer Asian carp get to the Great Lakes, the greater that probability becomes.

Stopping their advance south of Joliet will be an enormous victory.  The time for the barrier is upon us. Tomorrow will be too late.

Tony Galati, Lemont

The Latest
Mayor Brandon Johnson did not commit to spending a specific amount of public money to lakefront infrastructure improvements, but vowed that whatever public money is invested, it must be committed to creating more housing and jobs and “a sustainable, clean economy.”
White Sox fans from all over will flock to Guaranteed Rate Field on Thursday for the team’s home opener against the Tigers.
Many kids in the audience came dressed up. I would recommend parents encourage it, as their youngsters will undoubtedly make new friends at intermission finding others who love the characters they do, or who identify with other ones.
They mayor made it clear he will not remove the City Council member for appearing at a rally where an American flag was burned to protest U.S. support for Israel.
Archer Courts, 2242 S. Princeton Ave., will soon get a new hot water system, ventilation system and rooftop solar panels through a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.