As masked officers snatch migrants off the streets, Democratic inaction is sickening
As we see the creation of a secret, unaccountable and masked police force snatching people off our streets and taking them to newly-constructed concentration camps in South Florida and elsewhere, I ask the leadership of the Democratic Party: What are you doing to stop this?
As former American activist Mario Savio said in a 1964 speech, 'You've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus — and you've got to make it stop!'
Unless U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries 'put their bodies' on the gears and levers of this new evil machine, it will not stop.
Simon Evnine,
Miami
Grave matter
Re: the Miami Herald's July 11 editorial, 'The dangers of targeting naturalized U.S. citizens.' Stripping legally naturalized citizens of their citizenship for minor infractions, without due process, is no minor matter. To incarcerate human beings scheduled for deportation, especially without due process, is a major deprivation of human rights and in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
The Fifth Amendment states that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, uses the same language, extending the requirement to the states.
Trump is a self-described germaphobe who is known to glare at aides who sneeze in his vicinity or try to shake hands with him after coughing. He has repeatedly used the phrase 'poisoning the blood of our country' in reference to immigrants entering the United States without authorization.
Prejudiced beyond reason, allowing the president to incarcerate human beings in what are basically internment camps to 'cleanse' America of non-white color just to serve Trump's prejudicial and political agenda should be met with nationwide objections.
American citizens who oppose such action en masse must not be besmirched because of one man's dastardly actions.
H. Allen Benowitz,
Miami
Florida storms
The recent deadly flooding in Texas is another reminder of how climate change is making weather events more intense and unpredictable. Scientists say that warmer air and oceans are causing heavier rainfall, to which Florida, a state surrounded by water and increasingly vulnerable to flooding, is not impervious.
The 2023 'rain bomb' in Fort Lauderdale overwhelmed infrastructure. Flooding damaged fuel terminals and caused gas outages, as tankers were unable to deliver fuel to gas stations.
As Florida's population grows, so will the strain on systems that weren't built for flooding and heavy rainfall. Florida still relies heavily on fossil fuels. Emissions from such fuels contribute to the extreme weather we're experiencing.
We need to shift toward renewable energy, modernize our infrastructure and make climate-smart decisions that reduce flood risk and build resilience. Leaders at every level have a responsibility to guide the transition to renewable energy.
Hopefully, Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez will prioritize storm resilience planning in the next legislative session. We can't control the weather, but we can control how we prepare for extreme weather events like hurricanes and flooding.
Sandra Remilien,
North Miami
Warming climate
The July 9 Miami Herald article, 'In Texas, Florida and across globe, warmer climate makes flooding more unprecedented,' stated that, 'the climate is now 1.3 degrees Celsius warmer than before humans started burning fossil fuels.' The impact of this increase is not a future threat: already we are experiencing heavier rainfalls, from the 'disastrous rain bomb' in Fort Lauderdale in 2023, to the recent flooding that brought unspeakable tragedy and loss to Texas.
Ironically — and sadly — the day President Trump's 'big beautiful bill,' dismantling many climate initiatives, was signed in Washington, D.C., the waters were rising on the Guadalupe River.
Scientists are clear: climate change is a threat multiplier, meaning that natural events are made more dangerous when the climate warms. Hurricanes, rain bombs and floods are not partisan events — they impact people of all political persuasions.
I urge U.S. Rep. Maria Salazar and U.S. Sen. Rick Scott to take a stand and call for legislation that seeks to halt the relentless rise in temperatures. Our lives depend upon it.
Kathryn Carroll,
Miami
Higgins for mayor
Re: Miami-Dade County Commissioner Eileen Higgins' July 9 op-ed, 'Election decision is example of broken city hall.' Higgins made a most cogent argument against the brazen effort of our entrenched political dynasts to deny the citizens of Miami our legally granted right to vote for candidates in our mandated local elections and her plans for Miami if she is elected.
Based on her arguments, I can assure her of my vote in the upcoming election, whenever it is held. What she proposes is serving her fellow citizens. Wouldn't that be a very welcome change from what we have now.
Joel H. Beyer,
Miami
Changed GOP
In a Jan. 1989 speech, then-President Ronald Reagan said, 'A man wrote me and said: 'You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk, or a Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American.''
The Republican Party has certainly changed its attitude toward immigrants since Reagan was president. The change was not for the better. Immigrants make us stronger.
Parks Masterson,
Miami
Florida's blight
I am grateful to the Miami Herald for its coverage of Alligator Alcatraz. Details reported by the Herald and other reliable sources make clear that the immigrant detention facility is a concentration camp in the most heinous sense of the term, short of being — so far — a place of mass death. Conditions there are so inhumane as to likely meet the criteria of crimes against humanity.
I have visited the beautiful state of Florida many times, but will not return while Alligator Alcatraz remains in operation. I have urged my friends and family to join my boycott of Florida.
I hope Floridians will do all they can to protest this cruel, environment-damaging blot on their state. I hope also that Florida voters will remove from office all elected officials who are complicit in this atrocity.
Melinda Mueller,
Seattle, WA
Wake up call
I love this land, I love America. God has blessed America so many times, but we have not used our blessing to deal with meaningful things that really matter. We are lost in selfishness.
Former President Jimmy Carter said, 'We are a nation of difference. Those differences don't make us weak. They're the source of our strength.' He also said, 'In our democracy, the only title higher and more powerful than that of president is the title of citizen. It is every citizen's right and duty to help shape the future legacy of our nation.'
He also said, 'we have seen that silence is as deadly as violence.'
America, wake up and speak up before it is too late.
Leonor Sanchez,
Kendall
Shared impact
If ever we wondered how small our world actually is, look at the catastrophic flooding in Texas and how our own community has been so impacted. When I awakened to the news of Children's Movement of Florida founder David Lawrence's twin granddaughters Hanna and Rebecca having died at Camp Mystic, I was truly devastated.
Later, with the news of FIU's Dean William Hardin's family being swept away by the flood waters, I choked again.
We are each and all related, no matter the distance. While no real consolation, I pray that their memories will be gifts of love.
Norma A. Orovitz,
Bay Harbor Islands
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