ICE critics ignore the facts, show hypocrisy

“Our nation, like all nations, has the right and obligation to control its borders. No matter how decent they are, no matter their reasons, the 11 million who broke these laws should be held accountable.” — President Obama, 2014.

He also awarded Tom Homan a prestigious award for his work in the deportation process. Obama’s deportations exceeded 3 million, without protests, without agitators, without violence/ Due process was not granted to the majority of the deportees because it was logistically impossible. And infamously, migrant children were placed in cages with little outcry.

Now with Trump, we have ICE slandered as Nazis and the Gestapo. Two deaths occurred in Minneapolis. Local police are trained in crowd control, keeping protesters safe, unblocking roads, maintaining riot gear, etc. Sanctuary city policies often limit local police from being involved in immigration enforcement. Border Patrol and ICE agents are not trained in these aspects. When they don’t receive local police backup, they’re on their own and the deadly results are manifest. Note that in Texas with its immense ICE presence, there have been zero incidents of deadly violence. Local law enforcement and ICE work as a team there.

So to those of you who decry this process, unclench your pearls with your virtue signaling. You were silent during the deportations under previous administrations; 56 migrants died while in Obama’s ICE custody with little public outrage. An independent medical review showed most of those deaths were avoidable. The hypocrisy is glaring, rendering your objections unavailing.

Joanne Holland

Cohoes

Still time to sign up to vote in party primaries

Ever wonder how the candidates that appear on the ballot in November were chosen?

Each of the four major parties, Conservative, Democratic, Republican and Working Families, selects a candidate. However, if someone challenges the party’s choice, there’s a primary election, which takes place in June. The winner of the primary will be on the ballot in November.

Here’s where your role as a voter comes in.

One of the quirks of New York is that it is a closed primary state — only voters enrolled in that party can vote in the primary. In other words, only Republicans can vote in the Republican primary, only Democrats can vote in the Democratic primary, etc.

In November, you are free to vote for any candidate, regardless of your party affiliation.

If you did not pick a party when you registered to vote, you are an independent voter. That sounds great; who doesn’t want to be independent?

But it also means you cannot vote in any primary election and, as a result, you will not have a chance to select a candidate. In some races, choosing that candidate in the primary will effectively determine the outcome in November.

You can fix that by filling out a new voter registration form, on paper or online at https://elections.ny.gov/register-vote. The deadline to enroll in a party or to change your party........

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