Reader Opinion: Three Weeks to Go

The government is open, for now. This gives the voters another chance to get their message to

Congress. Can we agree on some things?

That the shutdown hurt us all? That fearing for the welfare of our neighbors and ourselves felt

more positive than fearing our neighbors? Can we agree that an educated, informed, critical

thinking electorate is preferable for decision-making over mob mentality?

Things happen so quickly we forget how they started. "Build a Wall" began as a campaign rally

cry put out by Roger Stone to Donald Trump. It became his mantra. Calling Mexicans drug-

runners and rapists lit the fire and the flames have blinded the evidence. Over 800,000 federal

workers got burned by the rhetoric.

FYI: The 1980s U.S. foreign policy invaded Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Iran-Contra? Archbishop Oscar Romero's assassination. 'Non-lethal aide.' We are reaping the

the fruits of that violence in the form of immigrant caravans at our border.

We have three weeks to do the homework. As Congress puts together an exploratory

committee, insist they have representatives from the border states. Encourage them to do the

math. According to the Department of Homeland Security, "It would cost $150 million a year to

maintain," April 2017. Twenty-first century technology at ports of entry would target the real

drug-dealers, not the immigrant children. What of the effect on migrating animals or

meandering rivers?

Personally, reject name-calling thrown at those who have fled their countries. Diversity leads

to progress, more options. Can we agree that our immigration system needs to be fixed? Take

some of that border budget and invest in immigration judges, schools and health care, not in

steel or concrete barriers.

Can we agree that using the wall as blackmail and federal workers as pawns is not acceptable?

Jan Kurtz

Fort Ripley