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Stay informed, stay empowered: invest in the journalism that invests in you. Dear Editor, Just finished reading the article regarding the separation ordinance request recently made to the Decorah city council by a group of area citizens. Just a few thoughts from the other side of the aisle… For starters, I'm sure some of my comments will be deemed by some as political, but they are not intended to be so. But to pretend like politics doesn't fit in to this equation is just not accepting reality. On day one of the Biden administration our borders were opened wide, up to and including encouraging immigrants to cross our borders illegally. Of course, millions and millions of individuals took advantage of that offer. This invasion (sorry, but I don't know how else to describe it) continued for four years, but was absolutely unsustainable. And this, to me, was the mistake. To encourage immigrants to enter illegally, providing hope (which turns out may have been false) that it was just that easy. Never mind the people that have been trying for years to follow our laws and get here legally. Never mind the medical, housing and education systems that suddenly need to try and accommodate millions and millions of unexpected requiring their services. Never mind the countless problems actual US citizens experience every day (addiction, mental health, poverty). Never mind we were told by the prior administration that there was nothing they could do without immigration reform and flood gates had to stay wide open. The current administration has somehow nearly 100% fixed the problem without reform. That's a fact, and we absolutely did not need to be in the position we're in today. So what we were doing wasn't sustainable, and I'm sure when campaigning for the 2024 election, Trump heard more times than you could imagine that the border needed fixing. He subsequently was elected, so is it not possible that he is simply trying to perform the will of the people and fix a humongous problem that someone else created? (Again, take the names out of it. Mister A allowed an unthinkable number of people to enter our country illegally, voters told Mister B if I vote for you, you need to fix that problem, which he is now doing). There's an old adage that "war is ugly." It absolutely is. So is fixing our immigration problem. But I guess I would encourage you that are showing so much support for those here illegally and so much disdain for those trying to remove them to also acknowledge that there is no good way to remove millions of people here illegally and do it the right way 100% of the time. Every person that entered our country illegally (except for maybe the children) knew they were breaking the law and still chose to do so. In my opinion, for us to now expect every single one of the millions and millions to be perfectly vetted and if required removed from our country in a methodical and careful manner is just not feasible. It comes down to simple math. You can hate the current President, but in my opinion he didn't create this problem, and is simply trying to fix it. Those with bleeding hearts for the illegals and disgust for those trying to remove them, I would encourage you to understand the latter are simply doing their jobs, the former knowingly broke the law and the massive and sometimes ugly cleanup currently ongoing in aisle five was of someone else's making. Dwight Jones Waukon, Iowa Speak up for what matters most to you—share your views through a letter to the editor.

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Letter to the Editor - Absolutely Unsustainable