DEAR EDITOR:

This letter is intended to address the disgraceful and un-Christian treatment of our immigrants. ICE was assigned to gather up the hardened criminals — murderers, drug dealers, etc. In an attempt to reach a quota of deportations mandated by those in power, many law-abiding, hard-working families are being victimized. Some are legal citizens or in the process of becoming legal citizens. Can you for a moment imagine how scary it is for them to go to their jobs, pick their kids up from school or call for help in an emergency? They are living in a self-imposed prison because of this fear.

The masked ICE agents could capture the immigrants at any moment. The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution calls for “Due Process” — a legal manner to decide whether they remain in this country. This process is being ignored. Some people are put on planes and sent to countries other than their own. Some are in prison cells with dehumanizing conditions. Some are being sent back to the treacherous conditions from which they fled.

We can help by writing letters, calling politicians and attending peaceful protests (which is still an American right) to let the government know that we are not complicit in their actions against immigrants. Complacency is like a stamp of approval to what is happening to fellow human beings. If this treatment becomes acceptable, which is what happened in Germany — what’s next? Did we not learn anything from history?

CAROL FRIEDMAN

Columbiana