Readers Write: Mining near the BWCA, immigration, GOP town halls

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

•••

Kudos to U.S. Sen. Tina Smith for introducing the bill to protect our precious Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (“Smith’s bill would protect BWCAW,” front page, April 10). The Boundary Waters is worth protecting to the highest degree, as it is a precious and rare wilderness, not just in our state but nationwide. Thank you, Sen. Smith, for this work. But I also read this piece with great frustration toward Rep. Pete Stauber and him twisting this work as “anti-union” and bad for the economy. It is high time we stopped characterizing efforts to protect our Earth in this way.

That said, it tracks. Republicans prove time and time again that it is clearly not God in whom we trust. It’s ironic that this phrase adorns our dollars, because it is indeed the dollar itself in whom we trust, as evidenced by continual efforts to shut down environmental and public health efforts in the name of “the economy.” Meanwhile, if we’re concerned about jobs and schools, then stop defunding our schools and shutting down infrastructure bills that would create jobs that don’t jeopardize our precious wilderness. Protecting the Boundary Waters is not anti-union, but exposing the watershed to mining pollution is a way to continue to enrich the rich at the expense of our environment. I call upon Christian Americans to heed the original job given to humanity, which is “to till and keep” the earth (Genesis 2:15). Yet what we do is continually expose and exploit it.

Keep fighting the good fight, Sen. Smith. You serve us well.

Paul Baudhuin, St. Louis Park

The writer is a pastor at Prospect Park United Methodist Church in Minneapolis.

Thank you once again, Sen. Smith, for standing up for our precious Boundary Waters. As the senator is completing her term she is doing important work. Being unencumbered by the constant campaigning necessary to getting reelected, she is free to work on issues most of us agree with.

Mineral leases that Rep. Stauber wants to reinstate would open the door to the ruination of this special place. All for a few jobs.

Mike McDonald, St. Paul

•••

BWCAW protection is critical for future generations. Mining damage is permanent. The Boundary Waters’ rivers and streams are some of the most pristine water in the world. Keep them that way.

As a Minnesota citizen, my primary concern right now is the downright manic pace of deportations: people being scooped up off the street, out of schools and businesses and out of their homes. I would like to make three points about this:

Julia Brown, St. Paul

•••

Buried on page A10 of the April 6 Minnesota Star Tribune was a one-paragraph article about two border agents charged with taking bribes to allow people to enter the country from Mexico through the nation’s busiest port of entry without showing documents. That was it, no follow up. Additional information is on the internet. This was not an isolated incident; agents at other border crossings have been charged for similar actions. Where is the outrage from President Donald Trump, Homeland Security adviser Stephen Miller, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, border czar Tom Homan, Attorney General Pam Bondi and congressional leaders?

These actions date to the Biden years, so it surprising the current administration is not taking the opportunity to bash the previous administration. But it is now the responsibility of those currently in charge. Is Southern California not worth a photo op for a glammed-up Noem? Doesn’t letting undocumented people through the border crossings pose a risk? Maybe this is how all the murderers and rapists and fentanyl are coming into the country. For Bondi, is vandalizing a Tesla more important the border security? For Homan, will these agents be bundled off to El Salvador? There certainly is a lot in the news these days, but this seems like it should receive more attention in the news and from the administration.

•••

Regarding the April 9 column by John Rash “The virtue and necessity of immigration,” it is frustrating that he along with many economists push for more newcomers as a quick fix to our economic woes.

Instead, why not invest in families that are already here? Perhaps it is too expensive to solve the day care crisis, family leave policies, the salary conditions that lead to burnout and other impactful family detriments. Hmmm … perhaps. Yet, who would’ve guessed that women going back to work would force us to consider more immigration? How odd.

As Shakespeare would have said, “There is something rotten in the state of Denmark.”

Sharon E. Carlson, Andover

The event to which Thielen referred was not “held” by the congresswoman. It was hosted by a nonprofit organization that opted to charge a nominal fee to cover their event expenses. It was an independent event, open to the public, and Fischbach was their featured speaker.

The insinuation of an elected official charging for access is intended to damage that public official and, in this case, also untrue. Such a lack of basic fact-checking further erodes trust in the media and deserves the moniker of “fake news.”