Op-Ed

I keep hearing conservatives say, if the protesters would only let ICE do their job, this violence would not be happening. I hear this over and over again.

Recently, I heard a conservative commentator say that he was surprised by the fear of a Hispanic woman to attend college classes for fear of being picked up by Ice. So I wondered how many people do not know the dread with which many people are living regarding detention and deportation.

So, do they know about the woman driving a van who employed nine workers? And when they got out of her van to work in her fields, they were swooped down upon by ICE and handcuffed, while she was yelling, 'They've got papers.' Do they know about the worker in a separate incident, who kept pleading with ICE, 'Please, let me get my papers.They're in my car,' but was handcuffed and detained by Ice?

Do they know about the attractive blonde business woman from Canada, who was explaining to airport staff about the mix up regarding her visa, when she was handcuffed and put into an ice cold jail for 3 weeks with a thin blanket and 20 other women? She said she was fortunate enough to have money for a lawyer so she could be freed within 21 days, while the other women were too poor to hire a lawyer, so she felt the need to be a spokesperson for them.

Do they know about the landscaper who had done his job faithfully for 20 or more years, and was working on someone's lawn when he was chased down like a dog and detained. Even though he has 3 sons who are in the Marines.

I hear these stories nearly every day on TV, but I doubt that conservatives hear them on theirs.

This is why people are protesting, because they're afraid for others who will be detained even though they are not the hardened criminals that Trump said he would concentrate on expelling from the country. I too want those hardened criminals expelled, but that is not the majority of people who have been sent to hell holes like Cecot, and to failed states like Libya and South Sudan where people are raped and tortured and starved to death.

Do they know anything about the countries from which these people are fleeing, where you cannot get a job to feed your family and you are subject to violence or the possibility of violence every day? So they leave everything they know, risk everything, and take the long trek to countries like ours where a life is possible.

Mr Pretti, according to his colleagues and former patients, was an exceptional human being who cared deeply about others. So, true to form, he tried to help a woman who was forcfully pushed to the ground by ICE officers. And he ended up dead.

So this is why people are protesting in sub zero weather despite fear of being detained or shot themselves. They protest because they are concerned for their neighbors, just as Mr. Pretti showed concern for the woman pushed to the ground. He set a good example for all of us, for which he was shot 10 times and won't ever again care for those veteran ICU patients who are tearful when they talk about him and have the highest praise for him.

Let's get the criminals out and make the reforms at the border that are needed. That is, improved technology at border crossings, more border agents and more judges so that never again will we learn about heroes like Mister Pretti, who are killed because they care and have the courage to act on that caring.