February 2026 Newsletter

This will be a short newsletter.  This week's meeting will begin with our service project at 6pm for the Carbon County Family Support Center.  Everyone is welcome to come assemble hygiene kits for children.  For our regular meeting we will take care of some housekeeping items with regards to our bylaws and the upcoming election season.

Our message this month is short and simple.  The Executive Committee thought it important to issue a formal statement on ICE and our current events regarding immigration.

To begin, it hardly needs stating that violent criminals should be captured regardless of legal status.  To this end, we do not believe in capturing illegal, violent criminals via large indiscriminate raids at schools, churches or hardware stores.  We believe that the real effective tactic would be to train ICE agents as detectives, not raiders.  This, of course, would take more time building cases and executing legal search warrants.  To think this can be done en masse is an insult to traditional law enforcement who every day chase down leads as they investigate and put together cases to solve crimes and apprehend criminals.  We adamantly oppose the continued use of masks and anonymity.

We believe that congress should legislate the standard for deportation.  Undoubtedly, there will be some undocumented residents who made mistakes early in life but have reformed, repented and returned to the task of building and leading a productive life.  We must employ empathy as we develop these standards.  We absolutely disagree with any quota system or monetary bonus incentives.  Money taints the entire process.  Money promotes bullying.  Money fosters lying.

We believe quotas are antithetical to this process. We recognize that some people believe that all undocumented people should be deported.  We reject this position and agree with former presidents like Ronald Reagan that amnesty is the only way forward.  We must do the hard work to accomplish President Reagan’s words when he said, "I believe in the idea of amnesty for those who have put down roots and lived here, even though sometime back they may have entered illegally,"   The socio-economic implications of wholesale mass deportation would be disruptive to our economy.  The psychological burden placed on families would lead to decades of trauma.  President Reagan, and others that followed, understood this.

We also believe that we must dispel the myths about illegal immigration.  We do not accept the rhetorical right's inflated numbers.  Good data suggests that the correct number is closer to 14 million; half the number used by President Trump for the last four years.  Millions of have been here for decades.  The very ones President Reagan spoke about.  We know these people.  We love these people.  We love what they bring to our lives.  We love how many of them have become family.  We are them and they are us.

We also know that the rhetoric about illegal immigrants scares people into believing that the majority are hardened criminals who rape and vote illegally.  We know that both of these generalizations are incorrect and sensationalized.  This hyperbolic and vitriolic language is tearing into the wonderful, diverse tapestry that makes up the American experience.  Xenophobia has never had a positive effect on society.  It is incumbent on us to finally solve this problem and we believe we should lean into the ideas of President Reagan; find an avenue for amnesty and oppose wholesale mass deportation.  Time is of the essence.  It is our hope that last Sunday's Super Bowl Halftime show will be the initial salvo in our apology to the Americas.

"The only thing more powerful than hate is love." -Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio

Regards, 

The Executive Committee