On Aug. 20, the Portland City Council and Mayor Mark Dion decided to make Maine’s largest city an ICE collaborator. In one fell swoop they forever changed the nature of Portland. We will no longer welcome new Americans who bring so much benefit to our city. Instead we will cooperate with federal agencies to harass and deport them. I am appalled that Portland is now a city that collaborates with fascism.
My father narrowly escaped the Nazis. Then as now, people were in danger because of their skin color, their facial profile or their last names. Then, as now, they are being sent to internment camps for mistreatment, deportation or worse.
Other cities are resisting pressure from the federal government to comply with illegal and immoral demands that are robbing us of our democracy. Portland should do the same. Instead, the City Council and mayor made the cowardly choice to collaborate with ICE in exchange for money for the Portland Jetport. They are not the leaders Portland needs and deserves.
Ruth Hennig
Portland
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