Terrorizing families with threats of deportation

To the editor: America owns the disgrace of allowing madmen and people on terrorism watch lists to purchase weapons, and the disgrace of making Donald Trump the presumptive Republican nominee for president. (Re “Reform, state by state,” Opinion, June 27)

Now we have the disgrace of a divided Supreme Court upholding a lower court decision reversing President Obama’s executive order protecting millions of immigrants and their totally innocent families who are in the country illegally from being deported.

The magnitude of the court’s non-decision is enormous. About 4 million people now live with the sword of Damocles hanging over their heads, and should Trump ever be elected president, they will surely face deportation and the very possible breakup of their families.

The future of the Supreme Court and the lives of these millions of immigrants hang in the balance of our November elections.

Henry A. Lowenstein, New York

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To the editor: Writers Karthick Ramakrishnan and Pratheepan Gulasekaram play on our sympathy to not separate families. The heads of these families chose to put themselves at risk by entering the country illegally.

I wonder if the authors can explain how these heads of families are any different than families of bank robbers, who, when apprehended, plead to be let go so they won’t be separated from their families. After all, they were only making an undocumented withdrawal of funds.

Lois Wetton, LaVerne

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