Stop ICE Now! / RIP Alex Jeffrey Pretti

Dear Editor,

My brain is exploding and my heart is breaking as I write. Because I have relatives in Maine, I have been following ICE's "Catch of the Day" operation, which apparently equates human beings with fish—not that fish deserve such atrocities either. Now ICE has killed Alex Jeffrey Pretti in Minneapolis, joining Renee Nicole Good.  Dead, both of them! Unable to live out their lives and gone forever from family and friends who loved them!  

This horrific tragedy is not simply about what is happening to "legal" U.S. citizens. It is about what is happening to ALL human beings in this country. We all know that immigrants--under whatever conditions brought them here--are NOT criminals, rapists, and murderers as the Trump administration would have us believe. Likewise we all know that peaceful protestors--exercising rights given to us by our Constitution--are not "domestic terrorists" or "assassins" which the Trump administration also wants us to believe.  

ICE is not making us safe as absurdly claimed. The truth is that ICE is terrorizing our nation and turning us into Nazi Germany. When I first learned of the Holocaust as an idealistic teenager, I could not understand why people allowed it to happen. I was convinced I would have done something. Now I understand better. Our world has turned upside down and become a national nightmare which is so terrifying we want to deny it is happening, or delude ourselves into thinking it will get better. We feel frightened, confused, helpless and hopeless and don't know what to do.  

Well, we cannot stand by and do nothing. WE MUST ACT NOW!  And we can do something from the safety of our own homes. This week the Senate will vote on a budget bill granting funds to DHS (Department of Homeland Security) which includes ICE.  Republicans already approved the bill in the House, but it can be stopped this week in the Senate if only Republicans would join with Democrats--who have pledged to stop the budget bill unless it removes funds for ICE.  While this will not eliminate money ICE already has it would prevent them from receiving more.  Doing so will send a strong message that the public disapproves of ICE.

Please, call or email Senators and request they stop funding more money to ICE.  Contact information is available on Google. Now is the time to set aside party affiliation and who you voted for, focus on humanity instead, muster up your courage, and call now.

Finally I would like to do what little I can to help bereaved parents Susan and Michael Pretti get the truth out about their son, Alex Jeffrey Pretti.  Losing a child is more devastating than words can describe. To have your country's president and his administration express not even a sliver of sympathy but instead spread lies about your child takes cruelty to a depth so low I cannot possibly comprehend.  Here is their statement. 

"We are heartbroken but also very angry."

"Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately, he will not be with us to see his impact.

"I do not throw around the 'hero' term lightly. However, his last thought and act was to protect a woman. The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump's murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He had his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down, all while being pepper sprayed.

"Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man."

Betsy D'Angelo

Town of Dodgeville, WI