I am horrified by the takeover of our community by the federal government to build an Immigration and Customs Enforcement prison in Berks County that will cost taxpayers millions to buy and remodel.
A few years ago, another detention center that brought shame to our county was thankfully shut down, and now it appears that our dictator president decided to occupy our county to execute his nefarious attacks on immigrants, whom he describes as dangerous criminals. Five-year-olds are not criminals, and we know that immigrants are much less likely to commit crimes than citizens.
The promise to arrest and deport criminal immigrants has quickly morphed into indiscriminately arresting anyone with an accent, tattoos or brown skin, even with no criminal record, just to meet quotas. Many are citizens or people who are here legally. Immigrants are crucial to our economy, paying taxes and many times working more than one job that citizens would never be interested in filling. They are our neighbors, our friends and part of our families.
We beg our leaders to do all they can to stop this takeover of our county to build something that will bring chaos and is vehemently opposed by so many in our community.
We are a country of immigrants, with the exception of Native Americans. Our ancestors came from other countries, and that is what makes America unique and strong.
Louise Grim
Wyomissing