Readers write

ICE detention practices represent moral failure

Georgia already hosts some of the largest immigration detention centers in the country, including Stewart and Irwin, with new expansions and proposed mega-facilities under discussion. See “ICE buys warehouse to detain immigrants,” AJC, Feb. 9. These are not abstract policy choices. They represent a moral failure.

Immigrants held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention are routinely denied basic Fourth Amendment protections — detained without warrants, held without prompt judicial review, and confined for months with no criminal conviction. That should trouble every American, regardless of party.

At the same time, President Donald Trump reposts social media content that demeans former President Barack Obama and others, reinforcing a politics of contempt and dehumanization. Paired with mass detention, this mindset erodes both constitutional and moral norms.

The question is not just what Trump believes, but what Americans tolerate. Silence is a temptation — but it is an immoral option. I believe Republicans of conscience will step up and oppose abusive ICE detention practices, in fidelity to the Constitution and basic human decency.

I pray enough of us will say a resounding “no” to the MAGA madness and realize our xenophobia triggers our own brutality of innocent people.

Please ask your member of Congress to protect America wisely and restrain ICE!

BOB JAMES, ATLANTA

Where was Ossoff during border chaos?

I see the residents of Social Circle are upset about an ICE detention center. We can understand their concerns about what is essentially a prison, albeit only a short-term one for detainees.

But I also see that Georgia U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff has added his voice to the opposition. The political grandstanding and hypocrisy of that announcement are glaring but not surprising. Was he out of the country or hiding under a bed for four years while former President Joe Biden allowed millions of people to enter our country illegally and unvetted?

I ask because I don’t recall his opposition to that chaos at the border, which has led to the need for the facility in Social Circle. Had he spoken up then about the negative consequences of an open border, perhaps the folks in Social Circle would not now be suffering the price we all are paying.

J. LINWOOD KEITH, DECATUR

Trump uses Georgia as diversion to control elections

Consider the AJC story “Trump election remark alarms states” (AJC, Feb. 5) along with the FBI’s raid on Fulton County voting records. Trump’s perpetual use of Georgia as an example of a fraudulent election is a diversion from his other failings as well as his clinging to a lie that he has sold to his base — hook, line and sinker.

While Republicans cry foul about elections, look at what they have done and are doing. Trump’s allies have used fraudulent electoral officials to try to rig election results. Trump’s call to gerrymander districts for the midterm elections has caused states to scramble both to accommodate and thwart him.

Republicans are using every trick in the book to block voters who vote Democratic, just the same Jim Crow-style efforts that were used when America was great (sarcasm intended). Instead of voting machines, which are both fast and accurate, many Republicans are calling for paper ballots, which are far more subject to fraud and manipulation.