We will remember and we will vote

We saw the video of the Alex Pretti shooting by ICE agents on Saturday, Jan. 24. About two weeks earlier, we saw the same incompetent, out-of-control thugs shoot Renee Good to death. We heard Noem and Miller, among others, say that these slain US citizens were “terrorists.”

But we saw the agents shoot a disarmed man who was laying on the ground and an unarmed woman who was moving her vehicle away from them. How dare any US official lie so blatantly? At an emergency protest in South Elgin/St Charles on a recent Sunday, I saw the outrage and disgust on the faces of old and young alike. We have had it.

Ill-conceived policies, indefensible tactics, criminal acts, mind-boggling lies and refusal to investigate and prosecute. What country is this?

Some Republicans have spoken up, politely asking for a “reset” of Trump’s immigration operations in Minnesota. A few have made strong moral statements, like Chris Mandel who reportedly stated that he could no longer be a member of a party that would condone these atrocities.

But others (like Lindsey Graham and probably most Republicans) are only worried about the political ramifications -- losing in the midterms this fall and in 2028. Oh, and now Trump is making noises about addressing the situation and “cooperating” with leaders there. What’s motivating him (as if we didn’t know)?

We can see through Republicans’ too-little, too-late efforts (if there are any real efforts) to clean up this mess. We will remember what they perpetrated and ignored and then lied about. And most importantly, we will vote.

Joyce C. Smith

St. Charles