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Protests are about ICE tactics, not enforcement
Re: “Protesters shouldn’t demonize ICE agents” (Page A6, Jan. 20).
Thomas Ferro asked why there were no protests of the millions of deportations during Barack Obama’s and Joe Biden’s presidencies.
Easy answer: Those removals were accomplished without militarizing our streets and snatching brown-skinned U.S. citizens, gardeners, Home Depot customers or anyone speaking with an accent; without teargassing or beating up innocent people and refusing pleas to look at ID; without snagging an immigrant as they comply with the law by showing up for their citizenship hearing. Turns out quotas are bad for ICE, too.
It is ICE tactics that are being protested, not the ideology of deporting illegal immigrant criminals.
Christine Decker
San Jose
ICE is targeting citizens, not just immigrants
Re: “Protesters shouldn’t demonize ICE agents” (Page A6, Jan. 20).
Letter writer Thomas Ferro asks why no protests when Barack Obama and Joe Biden deported millions of undocumented people, and the answer is simple. Only now are we witnessing masked agents, acting with impunity and using Gestapo tactics to terrorize citizens and noncitizens alike.
Let’s be honest, there would be no chaos or violence if ICE had not invaded Minneapolis. It is very telling that those ICE agents are not going into rough neighborhoods to arrest the “worst of the worst” and where they might encounter actual resistance.
So why would this deeply unpopular president authorize the killing and maiming of good people in blue states? I suspect he wants to normalize military-style violence against the average citizen, respond by invoking the Insurrection Act and cancel the midterm elections. As we all saw on Jan. 6, Donald Trump fears the consequences of his deplorable actions and is desperate to hold onto power.
Jerry Gudeman
Santa Clara
Claims of genocide in Gaza are false
Re: “Teaching hard truths is not antisemitic” (Page A8, Jan. 18).
Amanda Mellin’s January letter demonstrates why antisemitism is increasing among the younger generation.
She concludes that Israel has committed genocide by relying on data from Hamas and the U.N. Current events should be taught, but in an objective way. Genocide is not only defined by the numbers but also by the motive. Hamas leaders have vowed to kill all Jews in Israel, and Oct. 7 was an example. Killing 6,000,000 Jews by the Nazis or 1,500,000 Armenians by the Turks are examples of genocide. These were civilians. Even if we were to believe the Hamas numbers, they do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, so are suspect.
A genocidal nation does not give civilians warning before an attack as Israel did. Considering the destruction in Gaza, is there any doubt that if Israel intended to commit genocide, the number of dead would be 10 times more?
Gil Stein
Aptos
Schools and citizens are right to demand justice
Re: “State: Schools dismissed antisemitism complaints” (Page A1, Jan. 11).
This article tried to provide a balanced review of the turmoil in our Bay Area schools over antisemitism. In 12 of 14 incidents, the state Department of Education determined that schools did not take enough corrective action against antisemitism at the schools.
In this recent war, Israel suffered about 2,000 civilian and military deaths, while Gaza suffered over 70,000 deaths. Isn’t it appropriate to level complaints over the murder of so many innocent people by the Israeli military? And have not the cities in Gaza been destroyed?
If we expect this hatred to go away, we must demand justice.
Ted Rees
Mountain View
Trump’s pettiness shows in text to Norway PM
Re: “Nobel rejection angers Trump” (Page A1, Jan. 20).
Apparently, Donald Trump texted the Prime Minister of Norway and linked his desire and threat to take complete and total control of Greenland to his failure to win the Nobel Prize.
He supposedly said that since he didn’t win the award, he “no longer feels an obligation to think purely of peace.” This petty, egomaniacal man is the leader of our country, and 40% of voting Americans still support him. What does this say about our country?
Martin Schwartz
Cupertino
Norway letter damages U.S. image abroad
Re: “Nobel rejection angers Trump” (Page A1, Jan. 20).
Over the weekend, Donald Trump sent a delusional text to Norway’s prime minister, throwing a tantrum over not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize and using that grievance to justify U.S. control of Greenland. The text is riddled with errors — historical, legal and grammatical — and exposes a startling ignorance of basic facts, including that Norway does not award the Nobel Peace Prize and that Denmark’s sovereignty over Greenland is firmly established, even by treaties the U.S. itself signed.
More alarming than the mistakes is the mindset. Trump appears untethered from reality, diplomacy and international law, driven instead by a wounded ego. His Nobel obsession has curdled into talk of territorial conquest, as if borders are prizes.
This is not just embarrassing but dangerous. It risks shattering alliances, provoking retaliation and destabilizing global security. Unless Congress — especially Republicans — acts to stop this, the damage to U.S. credibility could be profound and long-lasting.
Paul Osborn
Morgan Hill
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