Families in Colorado facing danger of return to Afghanistan (Letters)

Families in Colorado facing danger of return to Afghanistan Re Trump s presidency was never about deporting illegal immigrants June editorial We thought your editorial was excellent as far as it went Yanking the rug out from under thousands of foreigners who often risked life and limb to find a safe haven in America is an unconscionable act of heartless anti-humanitarian gall on the part of Donald Trump and his minions Less attention has been paid to the situation of more than Afghan families living here in Colorado on Temporary Protected Status TPS A multitude of of these are persons who aided American troops during the decade-long war in Afghanistan It was bad enough when the U S gave up the -year fight against the Taliban and pulled out of Afghanistan in Now the Trump administration is apparently ready to punish the people who were our allies While I was a professor of psychology at Metropolitan State University of Denver I produced several films for classroom use One of them was Being Muslim in America An Afghan-American Family Story and featured a family who escaped Afghanistan when it was occupied by Russia in the s This couple and their children have made a effective life for themselves in Thornton and have created a encouragement campaign called Muslim Youth for Positive Impact that has enabled plenty of Afghans to integrate into our region and serve as contributing members of society In May chosen of these families received notice that their TPS would be revoked in July This is an outrage that must not be allowed to stand If we similarly allow Trump to remove these Afghan families from Colorado and send them back to Afghanistan where they will surely be killed or tortured by the Taliban we have disgraced ourselves What nation will ever trust the U S again We plead with Attorney General Phil Weiser to do something to halt this terrible deed Mary Ann Watson Denver Mideast terror shouldn t have reached American soil Much has been written in The Denver Post and elsewhere about the Trump administration and ICE s arrests of persons in this country illegally Specific have described it as federal overreach and federal attacks on our neighborhood ICE officers have been compared to Nazis In the last few days the governor signed into law Senate Bill Protect Civil Rights Immigration Status and one organization stated the law makes our communities safer It is alleged that the individual arrested in Boulder is in the country with an expired visa and a pending asylum application Is our group safer because ICE did not arrest that individual before he could attack a peaceful protest Isn t it time to tone down the rhetoric and have a reasonable discussion Protecting every person in the country illegally does not make the group safer Ken Fody Helena Mont Related Articles Coloradans with asylum status face more uncertainty as federal changes hold up green card process What happened in Boulder was horrible What continues to happen in Gaza is if doable even more horrible Thousands possibly tens of thousands of children and other non-combatants are buried in rubble blown to pieces and burned alive Could we please show the same outrage and compassion for them as we have for what happened to our neighbors in Boulder The accused in Boulder announced it was revenge The Netanyahu Regime in Israel says the same for Oct Both are outrageous We need to practice forgiveness compassion empathy and altruism now more than ever Peace Shalom Assalamu alaikum Jim Chaney Denver First I want to say that I believe that the attack in Boulder was horrible and inexcusable We all should be horrified by it We also should be horrified by the fact that the Israeli Defense Forces have killed an estimated Palestinians since October Selected accounts say that the majority of those killed have been innocent women children and older citizens The Israeli army continues with the murder daily They have also been starving the people in Gaza Gerald W Berk Evergreen Are Carol s supporters also her enablers Re Town in Mo was solidly behind Trump then Carol was detained June news story The New York Times article tells the story of Carol an immigrant from Hong Kong now caught up in Donald Trump s deportation theater I say theater because Carol was employed by John s Waffle and Pancake House in Kennett Mo another unnamed restaurant and cleaned houses for area residents All those employers were developing the law and they aren t hard to find Arrest them and grind them up in Trump s justice system They ve benefited from ignoring the law for decades Until that happens ICE raids and sanctuary city lists are just for show David Stewart Aurora This town is not solidly behind Trump If you are in this country illegally you very well may be deported Did you think that might happen If you didn t why not Consequences Understanding that your family may be split apart Why don t people understand that what they do is their matter Deanna Walworth Brighton Work on downtown plans that serve residents and visitors Re At a crossroads Downtown Denver is waiting for its rebound special summary I appreciate the efforts of our city leaders and the Downtown Denver Partnership to revitalize downtown Accordingly I attended the June festival celebrating the revitalization of th Street Even better I used an RTD bus for transportation The only disappointment was learning that the restrooms at Civic Center Plaza our bus stop were closed because as explained by prevention staff the building is closed Really Shouldn t a transportation center have restrooms available for riders This oversight contradicts frequent messaging from city leaders about improving walkability and reducing reliance on cars Of syllabus the downside of masses restrooms is the liability of increased vagrancy and drug use To mitigate this pitfall how about pay toilets and or admission restricted to those with an ongoing RTD ticket Attracting visitors to downtown requires proper amenities Robin Pittman Denver I plowed through your first two articles and your interviews with developers planners bankers and other people entangled in saving downtown It was devoid of interviews of existing downtown residents or Denverites who are interested in the center of the city I didn t see a single mention of creating land uses that might serve human residents Certainly no interest was expressed in regard to children s exercises No ideas about where new residents might play catch or just sit and watch the downtown itself It is obvious that whatever residents might desire relies on the various self-interests of the designers planners developers and bankers Greater part of the recovery is aimed at more of the same Luring remote workers to give up their lives to ensure the survival of buses offices high-rise office buildings and the old downtown is doomed from the get-go The empty buildings are warnings about the existing maturation It is clear that people don t want to join up with the proven accident arising from the present approach Yet the masters of downtown are trying to reproduce the mess that abides at the center of our town I think the city might begin to look at our neighborhoods to see what can be added to enhance the new reality Walkable neighborhoods would reduce the funk blowing out of every automobile driving across town to buy an apple I recognize the necessity of doing something about the quality of life to serve the neighborhoods instead of the developers pocketbooks I wish the city would recognize the options of new ideas and different cultures It is our downtown Tom Morris Denver I noted with interest in Sunday s Denver Post article on Downtown at a crossroads former Denver mayor Federico Pe a s strategy for recovering from the early s economic downturn in Denver which included revitalizing downtown and the city s neighborhoods preserving historic buildings cleaning up parks reducing air waste curbing crime and bringing in Major League baseball I think that would be an excellent undertaking for addressing currently s economic malaise in Denver I am especially intrigued by the idea of someone bringing Major League Baseball to Denver during the current economic downturn Steven Wallace Lafayette Recognize the benefits of reliable resource for our communities As a native Coloradan raising my own family in Frederick I ve seen how the rising cost of living is forcing families to make complex choices My husband a former educator in Firestone and now a local minister works hard to provide for our family but we feel the economic strain in our daily lives Family trips have become fewer our grocery bill has increased by over and day-to-day budgeting feels harder Reliable affordable capacity is critical to keeping life on track for families like mine and the oil and gas industry has long been a backbone of our local and state economies I worry that existing state and federal overregulation is pushing that industry along with the economic stability it supports out of reach That s why I participated in a up-to-date telephone town hall with Congressman Gabe Evans where more than Coloradans joined to hear about the policies affecting our everyday lives Evans made it clear that he understands how major the oil and gas industry is and he spoke about the need to reduce red tape lower resource costs and encourage domestic vitality production Towns like Frederick have long benefited from responsible in-state potency production As families continue to feel the pressure of rising costs it s more critical than ever for our leaders to prioritize policies that aid domestic ability and the people who depend on it I hope others in our neighborhood will continue to speak up and stand behind the workers and industries that keep our state running not just for this day but for the generations we re raising right here at home Rhianna Johnson Frederick Sign up for Sound Off to get a weekly roundup of our columns editorials and more To send 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