ICE agents do an important and difficult job

Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley said the county should not hire law enforcement candidates with ICE experience. He said there is a financial risk and ICE agents seemed to have been given a license to kill. Executive Josh Siegel agreed and seemed to call ICE agents undisciplined, poorly trained, dangerous and not suitable to be law officers in Lehigh County, which I disagree with.

But federal ICE agents’ responsibilities include enforcing immigration law by arresting, detaining and removing people in the country illegally; protecting national security/preventing terrorism; and investigating human trafficking, drug smuggling and money laundering. The border policy under Joe Biden led to 10.8 million encounters with undocumented immigrants, according to the Department of Homeland Security. It also allowed 2 million “gotaways,” people who evaded Border Patrol.

Trump shut down the border. ICE has deported 605,000 immigrants in the country illegally, and reduced human trafficking, terrorism and money laundering. Extraordinary. ICE did a wonderful job considering massive Democratic interference made it difficult and dangerous. ICE agents are hardworking, patriotic Americans who keep us safe.

This looks like Pinsley and Siegel want to turn away people who are already well-trained and well-qualified to serve and protect the people of Lehigh County. The sheriff said this policy could create civil liability for the county, and I would hate to see it cost us taxpayer dollars.

— Jack Sedovy, Whitehall

Worker safety needs improvement

On average, 385 workers die on the job in the United States each day from accidents and occupational illnesses. Many of these deaths could be prevented, if there was more importance placed on worker safety and protection. The Lehigh Valley Workers Memorial ceremony will take place Sunday at the Bethlehem Rose Garden. Each year we gather to pay respect to those who died on the job in the Lehigh Valley over the past year, and demand increased protections for every worker. We will also commemorate the tragic shootings and deaths at the First National Bank of Bath in 1986. Everyone is invited to join us rain or shine as we once again “pray for the dead, and fight like hell for the living.”

— John Werkheiser, Bethlehem

Trump was prophetic about himself

At his first inaugural address in January 2017, President Trump used the term “ American carnage” to describe a dark vision of the United States, stating that a new vision would begin immediately with his “America First” agenda. The carnage has come with his cuts of social and health care services, tariffs, increased Obamacare premiums, huge tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations, and the continuing mounting debt of the federal government now close to $40 trillion.

President Trump has stated that he knows more than generals now serving in the military and started the Iran war without consulting Congress. So much for equal branches of government. Because of Trump, Americans will be saddled with long-term economic hardship.

President Trump also wants the United States to withdraw from NATO. Not a very wise decision. United we stand, divided we fall. Russia’s President Putin and China will be licking their chops and continue unimpeded aggression throughout Europe and the rest of the world.

Vote in the May primaries and the general election in the fall. We need new, strong leadership to make America best again.

— Robert Black, Forks Township

Pa. Legislature should put limits on data centers

I think we should follow the example set by the state legislature of Maine, which recently voted in favor of an 18-month moratorium on building data centers. Data centers will harm our environment, drain our water and water supplies. Pennsylvania state Sen Jarrett Coleman is also on the right track by proposing a way to limit data center development. Call his office to support his pushback.

— Diane Weiss, Upper Macungie Township

Social Security isn’t a handout

Allison Schrager’s characterization of Social Security in an April 17 Commentary as an “entitlement” that has drifted too far from its purpose overlooks a central fact: Social Security is an earned social insurance program, not a simple government handout. Over the course of a working life, employees and employers make mandatory payroll contributions with the workers receiving benefits in retirement. While the system is not a personal savings account, it is also not welfare. Benefits are tied to lifetime earnings, and for most Americans, they represent a return — albeit imperfect — on decades of contributions.

It is also misleading to frame benefit increases as excess generosity. Cost-of-living adjustments are designed to preserve purchasing power in the face of inflation, not to enrich retirees. Without them, fixed incomes would steadily erode, pushing more seniors into financial insecurity.

None of this means Social Security should be immune from reform. The program does face long-term financing challenges requiring thoughtful solutions. But framing benefit adjustments  as painless corrections risks understating the real impact on people who have planned their retirements around existing rules. A more balanced discussion would acknowledge both the program’s fiscal realities and its role as a foundational source of earned retirement security for millions of Americans.

— Donald Cease, Allentown

Reality is twisted in US

What has become of this country? Our president sends his second in command to stump for an oligarch in Hungary (fortunately he lost), declares the self-inflicted wound of the war in Iran as a “holy war,” and then posts a meme of himself in a Christ-like pose healing the sick. Have we mysteriously slid into an alternate universe where down is up and up is down? On this 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence, let us remember that our country was created, however imperfectly at the time, to better serve the people’s interests and to guard against the self-serving policies and actions of monarchs and religious leaders. Yet here we are, bowing to the Trump-Epstein class of the super-rich who are aided by an extreme religious sect that compares Trump to Jesus. Unfortunately, we have seen this situation before. Just ask the Romans, the Egyptians, the Persians and the House of Windsor.

— John F. Sise, Bethlehem

The Morning Call publishes letters from readers online and in print several times a week. Submit a letter to the editor at letters@mcall.com. The views expressed in this piece are those of its individual author(s), and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of this publication.

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