Opinion: Trump’s action on Salvadorans shows the folly of making so many conflicting promises

To the editor: During the campaign and since then, President Trump suggested he wanted to deport only criminals and never planned to break up families. I know he has also promised to deport every undocumented immigrant regardless of non-criminal status, and now he appears to be going a step further by telling the more than 200,000 Salvadorans in the United States that they might soon have to go home. (“Salvadorans forced to return home will face one of the most dangerous places on the planet,” Opinion, Jan. 12)

With his promise last January to unveil a healthcare plan that would be less expensive and better than Obamacare, and his unkept promise to “drain the swamp” in Washington of lobbyists and other political insiders, I’m left feeling strangely sorry for our president. Apparently, he does not recognize the consternation that his conflicting and irreconcilable promises give to me and many of my fellow Americans.

The day Trump, his base or the politicians enabling him acknowledge the moral damage done to our country by having a president who can only randomly or selectively fulfill only one of his conflicting promises, they will finally feel as sad as I do now.

Mark Davidson, Santa Ana

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To the editor: I am appalled at the possibility that the Trump administration will deport some or all of the more than 200,000 Salvadorans who are here on temporary protected status (TPS).

Such an act will accomplish nothing good. It will only harm people unnecessarily, many of whom are American citizens. This is wrong and it is contrary to the nature of our country.

The TPS Salvadorans are, as best I understand it, productive people who have been here for many years and are contributing to our society. I have seen nothing about giving these people the opportunity to become citizens. Why is that solution apparently not being considered?

I think TPS Salvadorans should be given the choice of returning to El Salvador or going through the process of becoming American citizens. It’s a common-sense solution, and it should be the position of the United States.

Doug Tennant, Dana Point

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