Big, Beautiful Bill boosts bad projects

President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill includes a sizable amount of money for immigration enforcement. More money does need to be invested in processing immigration requests for asylum-seekers and applications for citizenship. There also needs to be a more efficient system for obtaining work visas and permits.

A physical barrier between the U.S. and Mexico, especially along or within the Rio Grande and the Sonoran Desert, is unnecessary. Drones and satellites are more appropriate for these areas.

Building “detention” centers for adults and families is reprehensible. These 21st century internment camps are a humiliation to our nation. Mass deportation is an inhumane practice. It is based on the false premise that immigrants from the southern border are mostly criminals. A mentality based on this premise isn’t a policy, it’s an obsession. Using money for detention centers isn’t only unwise and wasteful spending, it’s irresponsible. We need immigrants to fill agricultural, hospitality, restaurant, and other hard to fill jobs.

I believe the federal government needs to balance the budget and start paying down the deficit. However, the spending cuts and priority spending of this administration do not align with traditional American values — values that respect the dignity of all humans and their service to each other, preservation of our historical records and events, and stewardship of our planet.

President Trump is impulsive, overbearing, and given to bullying and retaliations. The American citizens are his gatekeepers. It is we who must protect America — her constitution, laws, people, and lands.

Ida Wiebel

Long Grove