Letters: Readers discuss Trump’s good immigration work, Harley-Davidson and migrant kids
Immigration chaos
Our immigration system is beyond broken. It is chaos. This is a result of decades of presidents and Congresses not implementing an immigration system that determines who is and who is not allowed to come into this country.
This insane policy of almost-open borders is a national security issue. We read where the Pentagon is asked to house some 2,000 children of migrants. Why are those 2,000 children in this country? If we had an immigration policy that kept our borders secure and better controlled legal immigration, we would not have the chaos we now see on our southern border.
I realize the Democrats want more immigrants because they need “victims” who need to be convinced they will be unable to survive unless they vote Democrat. I believe the Democrats are only interested in keeping the chaos going until the midterm elections.
One of the reasons I voted for President Donald Trump is for him to help solve the immigration mess. I fully support his statement that “the United States will not be a migrant camp, and it will not be a refugee holding facility.”
Bud Frye
Olathe
On its way out
Isn’t it ironic that a brand such as Harley-Davidson, so associated with what’s great about America, will shift a chunk of its manufacturing overseas because of the work of another brand that claims to make America great again? (June 26, 12A, “Harley-Davidson, blaming tariffs, to move some work out of US”)
James Heiman
Independence
Legalize it
I agree with those who say Missouri should legalize medical marijuana. After all, it has been approved in 29 other states.
Marijuana can be prescribed as an alternative to opioids, which according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse accounted for 914 deaths in Missouri in 2016. The Drug Enforcement Administration has recorded no deaths from the use of marijuana.
Also, the Missouri Highway Patrol lists more than 21,000 arrests in 2017 for possession of marijuana, with many of those arrested being placed in an incarceration system that is at 105 percent capacity, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Legalizing marijuana for patients who need its medical attributes could be beneficial both in reducing opioid prescriptions and alleviating overcrowded prisons.
Raneshia Hollinshed
Kansas City
Separated children
I just found out that immigrant children separated from their families are being held in a facility in Topeka, the Kansas capital. (June 21, 12A, “Separated migrant children are in Kansas. Why is it a secret?”)
As angry as I am that this could happen in our country and my state, I ask each of you, if you care, to see what you can do to help these kids. Apparently Sens. Jerry Moran and Pat Roberts, along with Rep. Kevin Yoder, don’t care if we host what I would call a 21st-century concentration camp. Maybe you do.
These are kids. Kids.
If I sound angry, filled with angst and concerned for our country, you are reading this correctly.
Joe McMillain
Olathe
No paddle, either
The notion of religious tolerance in America has somehow been twisted and has morphed into a notion of national atheism. We’ve confused the rites upon which our nation was founded with the rights afforded to us as citizens by our nation’s founders.
As such, our moral rudder has come detached from the ship. And you can’t hire enough cops to fix that problem.
John Wittenborn
Olathe
Go slowly
I am a trauma therapist who treats both victims and offenders in sexual-abuse cases. So let me put in my two cents’ worth before the heat begins about whether the Royals should sign Oregon State pitcher Luke Heimlich, who pleaded guilty to a felony charge of molesting his 6-year-old niece when he was 15. (June 24, 1B, “Royals should stay away from Heimlich”)
Initially, I was very against the idea, but I have done some reading. Heimlich claims he pleaded guilty because of family and legal pressure (believable because I have seen this repeatedly).
He also claims he did not do it. I am not certain of that, but I do know that when I see young kids (15 is young) who offend, one of two things is almost always true: They were groomed by an adult abuser, or it is a reaction to an abusive (sometimes sexually but often other forms) environment.
Know this: There is much more going on here than we know or are being told.
Be slow to judge in this case. All is seldom as it seems when the offender is this young.
Robert Cox
Excelsior Springs