Readers Write: Immigration, checks and balances, the good in people

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

•••

I want to thank the Minnesota Star Tribune for highlighting the plight of refugees scheduled to arrive in our state before the issuance of Executive Order 14163 (“Refugee resettlement in turmoil,” front page, March 17). One story concerned a family from the Congo whose adult daughter was too sick to travel with them in November 2024. Now she’s alone at a refugee camp and unable to reunite with them.

This is not a nameless, faceless family. This concerns our adopted family and their eldest daughter Vicky. Alongside dozens of other Minnesotans, we’re doing everything we can to bring her here.

As “host home” volunteers through their refugee placement agency, my husband and I have walked alongside them since their first family member stayed with us in August 2024. We’ve crowdsourced furniture for their duplex through our neighborhood Facebook group. A dozen of our friends donated gifts to create a joyful celebration of their faith this Christmas, despite the anguish they feel over Vicky’s absence.

The president’s executive order states “The United States lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees, into its communities in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans.” This statement has been proven false by the dozens of community members who have rallied to support this family without compromising resources for anyone else.

The media has done their part to highlight this heartbreaking and unjust situation. The judicial branch has done their part in blocking this cruel executive order. Average citizens have done their part to support this family. It’s time for the legislative branch to act.

We’ve filed an inquiry with the offices of Rep. Ilhan Omar, Sen. Tina Smith and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and launched a letter-writing campaign to bring Vicky home. During a time when Democrats are constrained by their minorities in Congress, Vicky’s situation presents a unique opportunity for a “win” by making this beloved Minnesotan family whole.

Leah Buck, Minneapolis

•••

In the past year, the drumbeat around immigrants coming over our borders without legal authorization has grown louder. Most recently, so-called “anchor babies,” who are born in the U.S. to undocumented workers and thus become U.S. citizens, have been targeted. Indeed, the Trump administration has decided to try to bar them by distorting the plain language of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which states that any person born in the U.S. is a citizen.

Lost in this controversy is the recognition that these “anchor baby” citizens are in fact a blessing to our country. In its “Deep Data Dive: The Workforce of the Future,” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce tells us that our workforce is aging and labor force participation is dropping, which will create critical manpower shortages. As just one example, there will be a significant shortage of health care workers in over half of the states by 2026, which is next year. The chamber, no left-wing think tank, concludes, “Immigration remains a critical factor in talent acquisition.”

Given these realities, so-called “anchor babies” represent a valuable resource to our country. They are Americans from birth, well educated in American schools and socialized into American values and customs their entire life. They will adapt seamlessly to American economic and political systems. Their parents, who clearly believe in the American dream for their children given their willingness to surmount all dangers to come here, will continue to supply the labor force in areas like construction, agriculture and hospitality, three sectors that rely heavily on undocumented labor.

Instead of trying to exclude these babies by misreading the Constitution or to force them into a second-class status by denying their citizenship, we should be enthusiastically welcoming these new and valuable citizens to our communities.

Marie Failinger, Little Canada

The writer is a professor emerita of law at Mitchell Hamline School of Law.

•••

Last week people who swore to uphold the U.S. Constitution and its laws ignored an explicit court order and an immigration process that has rules and regulations and deported more than 200 men to a well-documented hellhole. The State Department’s 2023 Human Rights Report for El Salvador explicitly describes the inhumane conditions of Salvadoran prisons. This government knew what it was condemning these people to. And while I hope they are all dangerous criminals given what awaits them, President Donald Trump and his cronies constantly throw together inaccurate and negative adjectives about immigrants to justify their racist, xenophobic policies. The odds are that some of those men were simply average people fleeing a dangerous situation and hoping to get to a place of safety that might offer the chance of a better life for themselves and their families. They chose poorly.

Lenore Millibergity, Minneapolis

Thank you for the top headline on March 19: “Roberts rebukes Trump attacks.”

The efforts of a president or anyone to intimidate our judges threaten the freedom of everyone and the very survival of our nation. Ironically, when the complaints come from the executive branch of government or from the rich and famous, the existence of such attacks is a sign that our independent judicial branch of government is strong and that the rule of law prevails.

Having served in all three branches of government and retired as a Minnesota appellate judge, I am proud of the work of our courts. I urge all Minnesotans and Americans to support our nation’s chief justice in his defense of an independent judiciary.

David Minge, St. Paul

The writer served on the Minnesota Court of Appeals from 2002-2012 and as a U.S. representative of Minnesota from 1993-2001.

On Tuesday, March 18 around 3 p.m., I took my 5-month-old puppy Jackson to the Minnehaha Dog Park for perhaps the 10th time. After we were well inside the park, we both got distracted and separated.

I frantically searched for him for about two hours. I enlisted other patrons of the park as well as park patrol to call me if they saw him. I received a call saying he had been spotted, then a call saying someone had him, then that he was loose again, then that he was hit by a vehicle on Hiawatha Avenue.

When I got to him he was surrounded by many caring people, but it looked really bad for Jackson. These people, who I did not know, carefully helped get Jackson into my vehicle and we rushed to the Animal Emergency Center in St. Paul. Once we arrived, the staff rushed to Jackson and immediately started helping him. My thoughts were that he had almost no chance of surviving.

Well, the news is that he is coming home soon to resume growing up. Miracle? Maybe. People who didn’t know me or Jackson along with the wonderful staff at the emergency center saved his life. I am eternally grateful to everyone who helped: strangers, park patrol, emergency center staff and others.

My point: There is so much noise and negativity today, but my recent experience is that there are a great many good people who do good things with the motive of simply helping someone in need — it should be made known. And Jackson has demonstrated to never give up.

I hope everyone can feel good about this. Because Jackson and I certainly do.

Bradley Jay Coulthart, Minneapolis