Immigration, kids and the broken border

Gianforte and Daines need to speak up

Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Greg Gianforte are doing a fine job of trying to stay quiet and confuse their constituents when it comes to the issues of family separation and immigration.

Both men campaigned as Christian family men, yet they remain silent, even as faith leaders from every Christian denomination and religion are speaking against Attorney Jeff Sessions’ new family separation policy that creates every parent’s nightmare: their children being torn away from them by force. Physicians are speaking against it. Other Republicans are speaking against it.

Even former First Lady Laura Bush is speaking against family separation, but Sen, Daines and Congressman Gianforte’s response is, “We need to figure out how to fix this.”

Resolving this manufactured crisis is simple. The U.S. government didn’t officially start separating immigrant families as punishment until April of 2018. Republicans are in charge of the executive branch, Congress, and the Supreme Court. An act of Congress, another memo from Attorney General Sessions, or an executive order from President Trump could stop this horror today, even this very hour. Instead, the Trump administration, with the silent assent of Sen. Daines and Rep. Gianforte, is hiring their crony contractors to set up tents and other structures to create internment camps for children.

This is unconscionable, and unless Daines and Gianforte stand against family separation soon, they will be remembered as anti-family legislators who ignored their moral and spiritual compasses. — Cherilyn DeVries, Kalispell

Build the wall

It’s hard to watch the effects of this manufactured “immigration crisis” on our southern border relative to separating family units. The over-the-top rhetoric spewed out by our left-leaning political figures amplified by the megaphone of the press is further dividing our country between those who are guided by emotional feelings as opposed to those using rational thought. It is particularly galling knowing this tactic is designed to deflect attention from the real dispute which is simple: building the wall!

For those of rational thought, the separation of family units is not a deep concern. Upwards of 85 percent of children are separated from their families because they were sent up alone, with people who weren’t related or with gang members or thugs. The remainder is separated from parents who have committed a crime just as happens with any children whose parents commit a crime in the United States. In addition, these children are well-treated, kept safe, fed, educated and given top-notch medical treatment.

The real issue is between those who want to see America as we know it drowned in the cesspool of globalism, overrun by outsiders and diminished in presence relative to the rest of the world and those who want to “Make America Great Again.” It’s that simple. Without controlled borders we have no country. To control our borders we must have the wall. And with the wall we can have true immigration reform. However, Democrats, like Sen. Tester, are doing everything they can to avoid the obvious compromise which takes care of this problem once and for all because they apparently believe we should be the garbage collector for the world.

Kudos to President Trump for taking the hard stand necessary to force Congress to do their job. It’s time, Sen. Tester. Be a leader, embrace America’s greatness, get off the emotional train, secure our borders and at the same time finalize the solution for the Dreamers who are already here. The answer is obvious, the compromise is there. All that is necessary is your courage to perform. Build the wall. —Mark Agather, Kalispell

Trump playing politics with border issue

In his June 19 letter to the Inter Lake, Mr. Dale Heldstab requested that readers “enlighten” him as to why “... separating children of suspected illegal immigrants from their parents ... [is] reprehensible.” He actually answers his own question with his parenthetical hypothesis at the end of his letter, i.e., “Of course, it could just be politics, but then we all know that Sen. Tester is above that type of policy.” Mr. Heldstab is right on both counts.

Of course it is politics: our fine President Trump’s politics. Mr. Trump can’t stand the fact that a Republican Congress recognizes the folly of a border wall, which would be a useless waste of U.S. taxpayer money (not even one centavo of Mexican money). So now he has conjured up a truly despicable attempt to blackmail Congress into funding his precious wall by implementing a heartless, reprehensible border policy, which does nothing to curtail drug-trafficker or gang incursions. Oh, yes, he claims that the Democrats are to blame, and they can fix HIS policy by introducing legislation which he, presumably, would sign. What’s wrong with that?

First, Mr. Trump’s disingenuous attempt to falsely blame the Democrats, and his concurrent denial of responsibility for his own actions, further demonstrate his lack of moral character, as if more evidence was truly necessary. Also, his claim that Democrats hold any legislative solution in their hands proves, once again, that our president lacks all understanding of how our Constitution and government work. Either Mr. Trump does not realize that Republicans control both houses of Congress, and that he, himself, is a Republican, or, alternatively, he doesn’t understand Republicans control all legislation that reaches the congressional floors for a vote, or possibly both. However, I believe the true bottom line to be that those are just two more verifiable Trump lies, which now number in the thousands, in just 17 very long months.

The second part of Mr. Heldstab’s own answer is also completely accurate. Sen. Tester most certainly is a politician of true integrity who is clearly “. . . above that type of policy.” The very fact that Sen. Tester would come back to his lifelong home, Montana, a state that overwhelmingly supported Trump’s election, and criticizes a Trump policy before a local “town hall” meeting, conclusively proves that the cesspool Trump created has not tainted Sen. Tester’s Montana values.

Again, right on both counts, Mr. Heldstab. —Al Weed, Kalispell

Let the wealthy open their doors

I have the perfect solution to the immigration crisis: Make it mandatory that everyone residing in the U.S. with a yearly income of $250,000 or more must “ADOPT’ an immigrant family, welcome them into their homes, feed, and clothe them, and if necessary, educate them. Then proceed to help the immigrant family through the process of becoming legal citizens of the United States ... problem solved! There are multitudes of wealthy people with more than a yearly income of $250,000 who should be helping with this crisis so the kids are not separated from their families and then the whole immigrant family could continue on to become legalized. Simple solution! —Jo Egerter, Bigfork

Heart-broken

After 50 years of working to strengthen families, I am broken-hearted that I live in a country that takes immigrant children away from their parents. These families are fleeing terror and violence and are searching for a safe place to live. They have come to the United States — a heartless place where their children are pawns in a political game.

I have worked with children who were removed from their families due to abusive and unsafe homes. We provided them with excellent therapy, schooling, safety, predictability, but what did they want more than anything? To be back with their families! We can warehouse them and feed them, but cannot provide the love and attachment to their families that they need more than anything else.

We must stop this shameful political game. This issue is a deterrent all right; it will deter many of us from returning our politicians to their office at the next election. —Barbara Myers, Kalispell