To the Editor:

The Newtown Bee is a great resource that helps us understand local and state politics, candidates and issues. Your February 13th edition highlighted Mitch Bolinsky and Michelle Embree Ku, who will vie for State Representative in the 106th House District, the position now held by Mitch. Amybeth Laroche made a splash announcing her candidacy for State Senate. These candidates are bright and have high integrity. Newtown is fortunate to have good options to choose from.

There is, however, one major complication. What’s happening in Washington, dominated by the Trump administration’s aggressive policies, has become a critical issue everywhere. It’s the elephant in the room, in every state and town across our country.

Thanks to Lynn Hungaski for her February 13 letter describing despicable treatment of immigrants that have been captured by ICE (Immigration & Customs Enforcement). Whether these people are legal or non-legal, our country should be deeply ashamed of this cruelty. American citizens have also been unlawfully arrested. There is little connection to arresting violent criminals or investigating fraud. The federal government is intentionally trying to create chaos and intimidate, especially people of color.

ICE has become a new national police force that is not accountable in terms of laws and law enforcement standards. There are over 22,000 ICE agents, many wearing assault gear. They are in masks and often don’t show identification. They are trampling the Constitution’s 1st, 4th and 10th Amendments daily. An American citizen was killed by ICE while exercising his 1st and 2nd Amendment rights. It is laughable to describe these policies as “conservative.”

ICE, part of DHS (Department of Homeland Security), has funding over $75 billion. Last Thursday the Wall Street Journal reported that DHS is highly politicized with widespread corruption. That is shocking but not surprising. They are seeking social media information on “ICE opponents.” On Friday the Secretary of DHS stated it would get involved in the November elections “...to make sure that we have the right people voting, electing the right leaders…”. (Elections are run by the States, per Article 1 section 4 of the Constitution.) God help us if this new national police force attempts to interfere with the November elections for corrupt reasons.

Like it or not, these actions of our federal government have become local and will strongly affect state and local elections. We need our leaders to speak out forcefully. Unfortunately, national Republicans have been cowed by the Trump administration. Republican leaders at the state and local level are in a unique position to speak out.

Our national situation is so serious that I will not vote for any Republican candidate unless they go on the record and publicly speak out against these polices coming from the Trump administration. I am an unaffiliated voter and have in the past voted for many candidates in both parties. I hope this approach is widely adopted across our electorate.

Peter Van Buskirk

Newtown