Letter: No to complicity in deporting children

Published: 01-14-2025 3:00 PM

 

Years ago, two sisters, 15 and 16 years old, appeared at the school where I was teaching in northern Texas. They had spent weeks getting there, sometimes stepping around the bodies of fallen combatants in a Central American civil war to reach safety 1800 miles from home. How dangerous must life have been to risk that journey?

Their arrival posed problems. They didn’t have the usual records or speak English. How would we deliver the instruction and support they needed? We worked it out, and local agencies and the community helped their family. They were endlessly grateful, eager students. They represent the overwhelming majority of people who come to America seeking safety and opportunity but, if it were up to some lawmakers, we would have had to report them or risk prosecution. Sen. Bill Gannon (R), for instance, has introduced LSR937 requiring public schools to report data about students’ immigration status and enrollment in English language learner programs.

The easiest response to complex, systemic problems is to punish those most vulnerable to their failures. It is also the most socially destructive, fiscally irresponsible and morally indefensible. We must tell our state lawmakers we want no part in spending billions on cruel mass deportations that rip apart families and communities. We must also urge our lawmakers to revive the bipartisan immigration reform bill killed by the GOP last fall for political profit. These times cry out for thoughtful, bipartisan, humane solutions.

Jean Lewandowski

Nashua