WHERE DID WE GO WRONG WITH THE SOUTHERN BORDER?
Our beacon of “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses …” is going dim.
Mayor Eric Adams did the equivalent of yelling at the Biden administrating in April for lack of financial support stating, “the national government has turned its back on New York.” He called it an “asylum- seeking crisis.” Other big city mayors are also feeling the pain. DC’s Mayor Muriel Bowser claimed her city, the nation’s capital, was at a “tipping point.” And outgoing Chicago Mayor, Lori Lightfoot, expressing similar frustration, focused her ire at Texas Governor Abbot, asking him to “stop busing migrants to Chicago.” These are compassionate “sanctuary” cities that are typically accommodative but are now pushing back.
Mayor Adams has now taken it further. To alleviate the burden, he has announced that he will begin busing those “asylum seekers” to neighboring counties. In response, Rockland County executive has enacted a state of emergency to ensure no asylum seekers find refuge in his county.
Making bad matters worse, is Title 42, a rule which allows border patrol agents to expel immigrants to their home country is set to expire in a few days – May 11. The federal government is estimating a surge of as many as 13,000 migrants per day into the U.S.
This is a crisis. What is lost in this debacle is the recognition that the strength of our country is in its diversity, that the revitalization of America comes from our immigrant population.
Coincidentally, or because of big cities’ harsh admonishments, President Biden recently responded by sending 1,500 troops to provide aid (essentially to facilitate entry) at the southern border.
I‘m just asking, “Where did we go wrong?”
Written by Derickson K. Lawrence, A resident of Mount Vernon
To the Editor:
The recent news about Clarence Thomas’s financial entanglements with GOP megadonor Harlan Crow should be alarming to every American. This is what happens when the highest court in the land is given free rein to police itself. Clarence Thomas isn’t the first justice to engage in unethical behavior. And if Congress continues to ignore the need for a Supreme Court code of ethics, he won’t be the last.
Of the nine justices currently on the bench, four have been called out for unethical behavior and connections in the last year. Neil Gorsuch sold property to the head of a law firm with cases in front of the Supreme Court. Samuel Alito dined with anti-abortion activists and allegedly leaked decisions on reproductive health. John Roberts’ wife has earned millions of dollars from law firms with business before the Supreme Court.
Congress has a constitutional duty to act as a check on the Supreme Court and restore faith in our judicial system. It’s time they act and pass a Supreme Court code of ethics.
Sincerely, Janice Martin-Clarke, Mt. Vernon
