ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥

Trump: Making America safe again

Trump has done it again. Removing a criminal gang member from the community of Santa Ana, California. Last Saturday, ICE apprehended Narciso Barranco, a middle-aged landscaper guilty of a misdemeanor for crossing the border 20-30 years ago. He was chased down and severely beaten by armed ICE agents while trimming the grass at an IHOP. He is the father of three sons, all U.S. Marines. Thanks to Trump and ICE, Narciso will no longer be able to commit the crime of working hard and paying his taxes and Social Security, of which he will never be able to benefit from later in life. Watch the video online of our brave ICE agents beating this middle-aged, unarmed man for running from several masked men with guns. I feel so much safer now that this criminal gang member is off the streets. What has happened to Narciso is happening across our country. Resist.

Peter Morales

Midtown

Re: Help to understand

1. Biden was slow to curtail illegal immigration, but Trump killed bipartisan bills designed to help.

2. No one wants criminals crossing our borders. How do we know who they are without due process?

3. Violent demonstrations are unacceptable, but the vast majority have been peaceful. At least for now, Americans still have the constitutional right to assemble and exercise free speech.

4. Israel has a right to defend itself, but not to annihilate innocent Palestinians.

5. In 2018, Trump backed out of an international agreement designed to prevent Iranian nuclear bomb development.

6. Out of 510,000 collegiate athletes in the U.S., only 10 are transgender. Gender-affirming surgery is rarely allowed before age 18, and is rare for prisoners because it involves long legal battles. Why are Republicans so fixated on this?

Republicans want to pass a bill that strips Medicaid from 10 million Americans and eliminates food programs for 2 million children. Who doesn’t care?

Linda Lyon

SaddleBrooke

National security

In light of the recent bombing of Iran, I would like to ask: Is Israel giving us compensation? Our President sure expected Ukraine to give the U.S. something in exchange for assisting in its defense. What is he getting in exchange? He also expects all our NATO members to pay for defense.

I want to know. Also, Congress should have been apprised of this attack before it took place.

Paula Palotay

Marana

AZ governor breaks own vetoes record

Hurrah! Someone not afraid to push back against a political party's proposed propositions and budgets that were focused on a select group and not in the best interests of all ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ns. Thank you, Governor Hobbs, for caring about us and not "special" interests.

Dennis Winsten

Northeast side

Re: College costs unreasonable

Sorry Ray, some of this is true but unfortunately, it serves to discourage those students who qualify for the FAFSA (pretty much those families with incomes of $50,000-60,000 or less) from applying. In most cases (some exceptions) the University, through the AZ Promise, will make up the difference between the full Pell Grant (currently $7,395) and the $13,900 tuition and fees. Of course, there are books and other expenses. There is also the community college route (PCC is less than $7,500 per year and offers an easy transfer route). Scaring "first generation" students and parents who don't have knowledge of resources into believing they cannot afford college is a real disservice. There are indeed many university-based and other scholarships available (Scholarship Universe is a great resource). So yes, you are correct and middle-income families have less options, but it is possible to go to college, and it does make a difference! Please encourage every high school senior to fill out the FAFSA!

Mark Hanna

Foothills

Free Melania

It seems to me that Trump, in his hateful and cruel actions to deport migrants to countries other than where they originated … seems to have hesitated in the deportation of immigrant Melania. After all, she worked as a model in the U.S. before being given permission to work here. Doesn’t that “crime� count as a reason to label her as an illegal immigrant? Frankly, my opinion is that she might very well be a happier individual if she were living absolutely anywhere else in this world. And Trump might be able to improve his image if he insisted on forgoing the usual (apparently intentionally) inflicted ICE “roughness� prior to the deportation. I’m assuming that you realize my sarcasm when I use the mild term “roughness�.

Sue Thompson

SaddleBrooke

No to DHS, yes to FWMA

This week, House Appropriations Committee members backed an amendment to the Department of Homeland Security funding bill that would dramatically expand H-2A guestworker programs.

Guestworkers in agriculture can’t leave abusive workplaces because their visas tie them to their employers. They face wage theft, retaliation, violence, discrimination and even human trafficking at truly alarming rates.

The reckless expansion of guestworker programs is a band-aid to the havoc wrought by DHS’s workplace raids that have exacerbated labor shortages.

There is an alternative: the bipartisan Farm Workforce Modernization Act (FWMA), which reforms H-2A into stable, electronically vetted Certified Agricultural Worker visas that open legal agricultural work to currently undocumented veteran agricultural workers as well as nonimmigrant foreign workers. The bill gives employers more flexibility and workers more agency, including the right to challenge conditions and change employers.

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, a top ten user of H-2As, needs the FWMA.

Representative Ciscomani should vote no to DHS, yes to FWMA.

Chuck Barrett

Midtown

Nice try, Jeffrey

Jeffrey, your opinion piece is just an overblown version of your usual LTEs. You make mind-boggling statements that reflect some seriously constricted and simplistic thinking. So many things to address, but space for just a few: How do you define a "strong nuclear family?" There are many versions of strong families that transcend the boundaries of your narrow-mindedness. "Flourishing capitalist countries?" You mean like Sweden? Sweden is described as a mixed economy with a strong emphasis on a comprehensive welfare state, featuring high levels of government spending on social programs and public services, including redistribution of wealth through taxation. "Incentivizing moms to divorce their husbands and marry the government..." — seriously?? "Abortion, not abstinence, is the go-to choice for birth control." Abortion is never a "go-to" choice — a disgusting comment by someone who knows nothing about it. In short, your self-serving response to Mr. Farrington does NOT constitute an actual extemporaneous debate. Too scared to try?

Hope Gastelum

East side

The loss of American values

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…"

"We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic tranquility…"

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press… "

With the advent of DJT’s first term stacking the Supreme Court with the help of his sycophants, The United States no longer sees all men as equal, no right to justice, religious freedom or freedom of the press.

As a country, we have regressed to an era where women no longer control their own bodies. Expressing a counter viewpoint can get you thrown in jail. An email tells you your career is over. Advances in healthcare belong only to the rich.

DJT is a narcissistic megalomaniac and only looks out for himself. To him, you’re nothing.

George Ball

Midtown

What an embarrassment

I recall past letters criticizing Democrats for cussing. Here is Trump dropping the F-bomb to reporters. What other world leader would stoop to such unprofessionalism? He continually shows he is classless, uninformed, unfit for office. He recently said his claim he would end the Ukraine/Russia war in 24 hours was sarcasm. Oh really? Watch the replay. No, not sarcasm. He's now claiming the Iran bombing is essentially the same as the U.S. atomic bombing of Japan. Outrageous, delusional remarks. He's furious that reports are surfacing that his Iran bombings did not obliterate their nuclear program, as he originally claimed. According to Trump, this is the end for Iran, and they'll "go back to their world." Watching Trump's sheer ignorance of foreign affairs past and present, his backtracking on previous statements, his lying to create his own reality, and his nasty foul-mouthed bullying rhetoric is beyond embarrassing. Even more embarrassing and disturbing: Half the country is fine with this crude, inept, blathering "leader," believing his every word.

Deb Klumpp

Oro Valley

Consternation

As the Trump Administration continues to achieve one, then another success, the Democrats are acting curiouser and curiouser. They are imploding into insane, mindless, and embarrassing rants designed only to make the President look bad. If the Democratic claims are valid the world as we know it is in great immediate peril. Perhaps, I should enter a pre-1970s bomb shelter equipped with supplies and emerge after a year hopeful that the world is still habitable. The hatred is perceptible and has totally distorted the rationality of those affected. Again and again, complain, attack, prevaricate, but offer no realistic path to a better country. It is amazing that these same Democrats were comfortable with a President who was cognitively impaired and spent much time sleeping on the beach, allowing unelected staff to set the course of the country. It must be frightening to encounter a President who does what he says he will do and is carrying out the promises he made to the majority of the voting public.

Loyal M. Johnson Jr.

Oro Valley

The problem in a nutshell

A headline in the AZ Daily Star on Thursday, June 26, is an example of how unevenly the nationwide news has been characterizing the war in Gaza. The top headline was "Bombing attack leaves 7 Israeli soldiers dead". In smaller print below was a sub-headline reading "Officials report troops kill 79 Palestinians, many trying to get aid." Shouldn't these headlines have been reversed? Not only due to the difference in number of casualties but also to the fact that the larger number were killed while trying to access food to avoid starvation.

Delores Keahey

Southeast side