To the Editor:
In a recent Facebook post, Congressman Mike Lawler called members of Yorktown Indivisible and Northern Westchester Indivisible “far left agitators,” “deranged folks” and “disgusting” for holding a protest against ICE in the hometown of the Gorman family who lost their daughter Sheridan to an act of gun violence by an illegal immigrant in Chicago in March.
Our hearts break for the Gorman family. For many of us, the pain of losing a child is unimaginable. And for others of us, it is real. Violent criminals, both documented and undocumented, should be processed through our criminal justice system and, to the extent they are not, our criminal justice system is in need of reform. So, too, is our immigration system in need of reform.
As human beings, we feel compassion for individual struggle – no matter who you are or where you come from. Our compassion extends to ALL living things. Not just our own family and friends. And we know that we can hold compassion for many people and things all at once.
We can have compassion and love and heartbreak for the Gorman family, AND we can have compassion, love and heartbreak for the many non-criminal immigrant families who are suffering abuse in detention centers for the offense of seeking a better life.
What is truly despicable is Lawler’s politicizing the Gorman family’s grief for his own ambitions in an election year that will challenge a Congressman who is totally complicit with the current administration’s corruption and war crimes.
Judy Allen
Putnam Valley
Read or leave a comment on this story...
Share
Print
