Dear Sen. Schumer: Time to Protect Immigrants in America
Dear Sen. Schumer:
I hope this letter finds you doing as well as possible. Thank you for your work to support immigrants, especially Dreamers and DACA recipients. I listen to commentators who say you did the best you could last week. That you saved hostages. But I feel for the people who weren’t saved. It’s hard to hear “wait” when the noose tightens around your neck.
I write you today to implore you to do all you can protect immigrants in our country.
I am not an immigrant. It’s been a while since my paternal and maternal ancestors came to these shores (by choice and by force). But it only takes human compassion to know that ripping apart families is wrong. It only takes human smarts to know that immigrants are integral to our economy.
I live in New York City. Immigrants are my neighbors and my colleagues. They are the parents at my child’s school. They are my friends. We can’t let Trump and his administration destroy the fabric of our society.
So please, in addition to your vocal support of DACA recipients and dreamers, extend your voice, and your power, on behalf of those terrorized by ICE and the Border Patrol. We can’t live with a homegrown Gestapo. Even if your heart is not with immigrants, you have to know that rogue law enforcement can turn on us just as easily.
When you feel outnumbered, when Trump and the Senate GOP get you down, remember these words by Patrick Henry:
“The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone;
it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.”
We count on your vigilance, your action, your bravery in these difficult times. This is the time for all of us to speak up. Speak up and act before we lose the chance.
Thank you.
Stacy Parker Le Melle
Harlem, NYC
