Tuesday letters: Library appreciation, ICE office debate and Haitian immigrants
A wonderful community resource
I recently visited our Garfield County Public Library in Glenwood Springs. It is one of my favorite places in Glenwood. I now have the joy of introducing our youngest granddaughter to the joys of our library.
The programs for children and young adults are wonderful. The selection of books and other materials for children and adults seems endless, considering you may check out materials that are available in Glenwood or request materials from several other libraries.
The staff at our library is amazing; each one is professional and personable. If you have not taken the opportunity to see what our library offers, please do so. If you are a patron of our library, please continue to use the resources available to all of us. And please recommend our library to others in our wonderful community.
Sarah Pettit, Glenwood Springs
ICE office decision is a costly folly
In response to the recent legal decision by the Glenwood Springs City Council regarding the ICE office reported on Aug. 7:
It dismays me that a decision to file an injunction against the landlord, from whom the ICE office presently leases, has become such a folly.
The office has operated seamlessly for nearly a quarter of a century. ICE has successfully deported and convicted hundreds of criminal aliens out of that office, benefiting the security and safety of communities in Garfield, Eagle, Summit, Pitkin and Lake counties. For those who were unaware or uninformed, that was and is the area of responsibility of the Glenwood Springs ICE office. No negligent incidents, no problems or issues. The location clearly met zoning and use regulations during construction and initial use in 2003. Not sure when the council changed the zoning regulations?
What is clear is the hidden agenda to close down immigration enforcement, or ICE for short. The permitting issue could have been inexpensively and simply resolved, but it was just a facade to allow the open-border activists to shanghai the City Council into doing their bidding. HSI and ERO are under the same umbrella of ICE, and both conduct immigration enforcement and investigations. The advocates are using the proverbial technique “to kill two birds with one stone.” That is their ultimate goal.
Reluctantly, the honorable residents of Glenwood Springs will have to foot the $50,000, or more, bill for this folly. Outrageous, a simple permitting issue. Money that could have been spent more wisely for the city and its residents.
Steve Turza, retired special agent, HSI/ICE, Rifle
Protect Haitian immigrants in the U.S.
As a family physician, I’ve traveled to many countries on medical relief trips. Two of these trips were to Haiti and the Dominican Republic, which share the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. These trips opened my eyes and made me sympathetic to the plight of Haitians in the United States.
I spent a week in the Dominican Republic, traveling daily to refugee camps. While most of my colleagues were American, we worked with one Haitian physician. She served some of the most disadvantaged patients I ever worked with, while educating us about local needs and cultural concerns. While we had traveled farther, her daily challenges to join us were greater. She was required to pass through eight separate checkpoints upon entry and departure, harassed at each one because she was a woman and a Haitian. She was undeterred and showed up daily to help people in desperate need.
More recently, I participated in a medical relief trip to Haiti. We treated patients who had been chronically displaced by the 2010 earthquake. They were further impacted by cholera outbreaks inadvertently caused by relief workers. Our shifts at refugee camps were rescheduled due to risk of violence, and we were unable to travel without security.
Since then, the country has been torn apart by violence, political instability and economic collapse. The U.S. Department of State just placed Haiti under a Level 4, the highest, travel advisory. This is the scenario that our Haitian immigrants, who have recently been under Temporary Protected Status but now are at risk of being deported, are expected to return to.
Not only are they neighbors and community members, they are employed in valuable health roles across the U.S. More than 100,000 Haitians work in health professions, particularly caring for our elderly and disabled. They make up nearly 1% of our health care workforce. Deporting them poses a humanitarian risk while creating a significant clinical shortage in the U.S.
Please contact your members of Congress to ask them to protect Haitian immigrants’ status in the U.S.! And remember, use your voice — vote in November!
Maria Chansky, Glenwood Springs