Re: Commentary by Henry Schulte (“Troops deserve better treatment,” News-Press, Nov. 21).
One of the questions on the test for U.S. citizenship is: What is one reason colonists came to America? The answers accepted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services are:
1) Freedom.
2) Political liberty.
3) Religious freedom.
4) Economic opportunity.
5) Escape persecution.
That being said, the Pilgrims were among the first “undocumented” immigrants. Did they arrive with passports or visas? No. Did they obtain permanent resident cards or green cards? No.
Did they try to assimilate? No. Did they learn native languages and embrace native cultures? No.
Did these immigrants abuse and slaughter massive numbers of indigenous people? Yes.
Today, many who are vulnerable and oppressed are fleeing horrendous violence and abject poverty in their home countries. They are not “animals” as former President Donald Trump liked to call them. They are human beings. Most come here (as did earlier immigrants) to escape persecution, poverty and likely death. Legal or not, it’s human nature to pursue the dream of life, liberty and equality.
Mr. Trump’s HHS responded by separating children, toddlers and infants from their parents and putting them in cages! What will our descendants think when they learn that we once had something called “tender age” detention centers in the U.S.? This is now part of our regrettable legacy, which some desire to sustain and perpetuate.
None of our ancestors arrived here on a chariot from heaven.
Robert Baruch
Yeosu, South Korea
(formerly of Goleta)
