Sheriff Ian Parkinson earns both praise and pushback over ICE forum | Opinion

A thank you to sheriff and supervisors

I want to thank both the Sheriff’s Office and the Board of Supervisors for carefully listening to and responding to community feedback and comments during the recent meeting regarding ICE in SLO County and to reiterate one of the points that I believe may not have been emphasized enough.

Our law enforcement personnel are valued members of our community who perform vital services and also possess specialized training, understand due process and have a proven commitment to helping people.

My concern is that these anonymous ICE agents check none of these boxes. Please don’t cede any of your time or power to them. We love having you make our community and our lives better rather than assisting others who have the opposite agenda.

Alan Davison

Morro Bay

Presentation ‘dry and impersonal’

I attended the first three hours of the Board of Supervisors TRUTH Act meeting. Sheriff Ian Parkinson’s presentation asserting his department’s compliance with state and federal law concerning the release of inmates with “serious felony convictions” into the hands of ICE and his criticism of disruptive demonstrations against the practice was dry and impersonal.

He didn’t miss a chance to take a shot at the Biden Administration, ignoring as he did the complete evisceration of the immigration system inflicted in Trump’s first term. But his “law and order” presentation ignores the larger picture — his agency’s cooperation with ICE ignores the undeniable lawlessness of the federal agency he is turning those people over to. And more importantly, it ignores his larger obligation, contained in his oath of office to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.”

That Constitution protects my freedom to demonstrate against and film the lawless acts of ICE and Customs and Border Control, wherever they occur, and the right of we the people (not just we the citizens) to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures guaranteed by the fourth amendment. We cannot afford to look away.

Valerie Hosford

San Luis Obispo

Heartbreaking sight

It is heartbreaking and horrifying to see how cruel our government has become. U.S. citizens exercising their right to protest are murdered by federal agents, and the administration attempts to gaslight us about what we can plainly see on video. ICE agents smash windows, drag people out of cars and beat them, some also U.S. citizens.

We have become a country of haves and have-nots, with food and health care assistance stripped away but more tax breaks for the wealthy. The administration curtailed funding research for childhood cancer; abolished USAID, whose programs saved countless lives worldwide; cited “waste, fraud and abuse” to justify canceling social safety nets for those living on the margins.

We blow up people in boats, kidnap the leader of another country, threaten to take Greenland by force. Trump’s rude, disrespectful behavior toward world leaders and reporters is juvenile and counterproductive. The cowards in Congress are to blame, especially Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell, who had the opportunity to stop Trump but were unwilling to risk losing political power; others prioritize re-election. Trump’s cruelty, dishonesty, corruption and immorality are on full display to the world. America, as a beacon of freedom, justice and compassion, is now unrecognizable.

Sharon McDaniel

Arroyo Grande

Spiraling out of control

The murder of Alex Pretti, which we all witnessed on TV, illustrates how far the Trump administration has spiraled out of control into a brutal dictatorship directly threatening our democratic way of life.

Donald Trump, true to form, blames Alex Pretti for legally being in possession of his firearm, causing his own demise. If being in possession of a gun, which he did not brandish, was the issue, why was he killed after it was taken from him? He never posed any threat to the ICE officers, either before or after officers took possession of the gun. How many more martyrs must suffer as the Trump dictatorship daily whittles away and dismantles our.democratic way of life? How can any responsible, law-abiding and patriotic U.S. resident, both citizen and non-citizen, still support his destructive, dysfunctional and anti-democratic administration? Wake up, America! Dominick Lacovara

Los Osos

Ask yourself

Have you ever asked yourself, “If I had been alive during the Holocaust what would I have done? If I had been alive during slavery, what would I have done? If I had been alive during the battle for equal rights for all Americans what would I have done?”

Well, we each are doing it right now. We are witnessing the slow and deliberate “genocide”of American democracy.

Ask yourself, “Am I being driven by love of my country and her people or by fear of those with darker skin?” We need ice agents, border patrol agents, all law enforcement, to be adequately trained, reasonably seasoned and experienced in dealing professionally and compassionately with others.

We need men and women who lead using their hearts and their heads, using reason and compassion instead of fear of others.

By all means, go after the criminal element, no matter what their race, but that needs to be applied equitably to culture and color. We all win if we recognize racism, work together to respect differences, and nurture democracy as it was intended. Ethel Landers

Arroyo Grande

Cut The Trib some slack

Wow! Clive Pinder touched a nerve in his Jan. 25 opinion, “Verdicts vs Bridges.”

Let’s face it; we live in outrageous times. Outrage can feel like the only appropriate response. It can feel “right”.

It can seem like if you are not outraged, you don’t care. Same is true for a news organization doing its best to respond to the magnitude of the crime. Verdicts are expected. We rush to judge; we’re urged to pick a side. We must have an opinion.

Pinder is asking us, does it have to be this way? What if people did not expect us to “pick a side and fight like h***.” Bridges take time to build! What if the norm was to take time to understand all sides? What if the measured dialogue necessary for understanding was a normal response?

Let’s cut The Tribune some slack and give time, and appreciation for measured response. Let’s have courage as citizens to find our own measured dialogue, beyond outrage. I suggest Courageous Citizenship. Braver Angels CEO, Maury Giles, a Republican from Utah, is coming to town to speak on the subject. Contact Braver Angels SLO Alliance at kchristensen@braverangels.org

Kate Christensen

Co-Chair, SLO Alliance