Our government’s immigration policies are harmful

I object to the immigration policies of my government, and I would like to see immediate change.

The name “Homeland Security” reminds me of Nazi Germany. Now it is more like “Homeland Insecurity.” With masked officers who do not identify or explain themselves as they brutalize people who should be presumed innocent, it really hearkens back to the Gestapo or the Ku Klux Klan.

I wonder what training these officers have received? It’s beyond me how they can treat my neighbors and fellow citizens without humanity or compassion. Also I wonder why these officers cannot protect themselves as they do their jobs and need U.S. Marines to do that, especially since they appear to operate in gangs as they assault people whose identities they may not even know.

It seems that they shun detective work to find “violent criminals” and instead choose easy work of apprehending those who look or sound to them like immigrants or immigrant supporters — at home, at work, at school, at church, at court (complying with law), at Home Depot or filming these cowardly officers in action.

In my opinion, this is no way to run a democratic country.

Becky Durr

Aberdeen

Republican offer disingenuous objections on budgeting

The idea that Republicans’ concern for fiscal restraint was laid to rest last week.

It is obvious that they don’t care what the effect of their spending plans are for you or me. So long as their only, true constituency, gets a ginormous tax break, they don’t care what deficits, or your daily budget looks like.

This is also true for state level representatives such as Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn. On July 3, he took a shot at state-level Democrats. Now I’m not going to defend the politicians. They are big boys and girls and can look out for themselves. Rather, it was a vacuous statement on taxing and spending that follows a pattern.

Republicans will always attack spending for social needs and environmental concerns. They never have any suggestion for accomplishing the same goals for a better cost. Their plans are to basically just let the problems fester. The only social spending they consistently support is to trample people’s rights and jail them. This doesn’t save any money. In fact, it is probably even more expensive. But it makes them look tough.

I also thought the comparison to Idaho and Montana was fairly rich. This is an apples-to-oranges comparison. Let’s begin with population size. Montana has a population of about 1,143,160 in 2025. The population of King County alone is nearly twice that. And it’s not like Montana doesn’t have areas with an out of proportion cost of living. A house in Glendive is going to cost a lot less than one in Bozeman.

Comparing taxation levels is also cherry picked. Sure, I can find states without an income tax that have lower gasoline taxes. You can point to Texas and Florida. Now go and look at their property taxes that shock even California transplants. Then have a conversation with a Florida resident about homeowner’s insurance.

My question for people like Couture is what they want to cut. The answer is always the same. They want to cut the spending that benefits anybody else but them. The spending that benefits them and theirs is sacrosanct.

Andrew Makar

Ocean Shores