Letter to the Editor: Justice for all

The rounding up of an entire group of people—asylum seekers and immigrants searching for a better life for their families—calling them criminals, tearing away their children and shipping them around the country where there will be little or no chance of reuniting them with their parents, are morally bankrupt and corrupt practices.

What has happened to the words at the base of our Statue of Liberty? "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

I still believe the majority of Americans care about people who are suffering. Jesus spent his entire ministry focusing on helping the "least among us," including the poor, the sick, the powerless, the stranger.

On the local level, we can do something to end the ICE contract at NORCOR. Our four-county regional jail is now the only one in Oregon to take ICE detainees. The presence of ICE in our communities breeds fear among our friends and neighbors. Thirty four percent of students in the Northern Wasco County School District 21 are Hispanic; 44 percent in Hood River.

NORCOR in April settled a lawsuit against its detainer policy for $40,000, to be paid by taxpayers. Though the jail's board ended that policy, the jail still holds ICE detainees, which violates Oregon's 31-year-old "Sanctuary Law." Due to mistakes in dealing with ICE, taxpayers continue to face legal liability and financial risk.

I believe it is essential to end NORCOR's contract with ICE and to find alternate sources of funding to replace funding provided by ICE.

Let's help transform our regional jail into a facility that focuses on rehabilitation and restorative justice, not one that serves as a detention center for immigrants.

Who are we, as Americans? It is a question each of us must ask ourselves. I still believe our hearts are large enough and compassionate enough to care about all people, and through our democracy, bring about liberty and justice for all.

Carole Anderson

The Dalles