How we vote matters
At our founding, we were not a perfect country. Our constitution was not a perfect document, but it and its writers were profoundly ahead of their time and set the foundation of the country we have become. We have made progress toward becoming a more perfect union, but we still have some distance to go […]
Kristi Noem’s real mistake
Kristi Noem should have been fired a long time ago. For more than a year, Noem presided over some of the most outrageous law enforcement actions in modern American history. She deployed thousands of masked agents on immigration raids in American cities, claiming they targeted the “worst of the worst” — but tens of thousands […]
Condoning lawlessness
I was initially pleased when I saw a recent letter to the editor in The Daily Item, titled “Stopping the lawlessness” (Jan. 24). I thought it would condemn the recent lawless actions by federal agents, including the killing of American citizens by ICE and the Border Patrol. I was wrong. Shockingly, the writer instead defended […]
Stubborn facts
President Trump and ICE leadership frequently tout their success in detaining individuals with criminal records. While most Americans support deporting undocumented individuals who commit major crimes, the reality of ICE’s tactics reveals significant collateral damage to communities, U.S. citizens, and non-criminals. Facts are stubborn things, even though some people choose to ignore or misrepresent those […]
Democrats’ vision for America
In response to the letter published Jan. 23 by William Folk, McClure: You may be a Democrat if you believe that democracy and the rule of law should be upheld rather than threatened, and that truth is important, even when it’s uncomfortable. You believe health care, education and voting are rights — not privileges. You […]
Not for this
My late father and uncles enlisted to fight in World War II, returning home humbled by the sacrifices of their fellow soldiers, pilots and sailors. They held a steely pride in the United States’ ideals and democratic government. They would never have accepted the abusive actions and hypocrisy of President Trump, actions which clearly contradict […]
Government’s first responsibility
Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen, was killed in Minneapolis after dropping her 6-year-old son at school. A masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fired into her car, shooting her in the face. Instead of investigating the murder, federal officials rushed to justify the shooting, contradicting video evidence, and labeling her a “domestic […]
Silence speaks volumes
Recently, I asked Sen. Dave McCormick to stop funding ICE and speak out against the violence and cruelty perpetrated by ICE agents against our communities and law-abiding people who live in them. His response to me in a January 18, 2026, letter: “I support President Trump’s efforts to restore order at the southern border, uphold […]
Tyrant in the White House
Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence 250 years ago. Four of the numerous grievances he leveled at King George III have an uncanny application to Donald Trump. Jefferson accused the King of “abolishing our most valuable laws”, “altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments”, “excit[ing] domestic insurrections amongst us”, and – most ominously – […]
Immigration Solutions
The Daily ItemSeptember 15, 2024 Working in a restaurant in the mid-1990s, I met Marcel from El Salvador. Around 1982, his father was murdered by gang members, and his mother paid an extortion to drive a school bus safely. She told Marcel to run away to the U.S. No matter the shift I worked, Marcel […]