Released by Border Patrol
A recent letter writer highlighted the numbers of people that have come into the country illegally under the Biden administration. About six million, plus another million or more who came in without being apprehended by the Border Patrol. I reviewed the Border Patrol’s “Custody and Transfer” statistics for Fiscal Years 2021, 2022 and 2023. During that period, over 1,700,000 people, who entered the country illegally in between the ports of entry and we know nothing about, were released from custody and are at large in America. The releases were done via parole or a notice to appear. This is a staggering number, over three times the population of Tucson. When I looked at the numbers, they began increasing after the November 2020 election of Joe Biden. It was obvious to me that his campaign promises to end Trump era border policies and his perceived welcoming rhetoric encouraged people to come here illegally. They were obviously right and it continues. Biden should be impeached for his deliberate open border.
People are also reading…
Teddy Francisco
Three Points
What is genocide?
Re: the Oct. 29 letter “Genocide in Gaza.”
In this letter the writer accuses Israel as the perpetrator.
The definition I found for genocide is “the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political or cultural group”.
There are only about 15 million Jews in the world today.
The charter of Hamas calls for the destruction of Israel. We have heard the expression “from the river to the sea”. What this means is that no Jews are to remain alive. That is genocide as far as I am concerned. Jews have systematically been forced to leave Muslim countries for over 80 years. The hatred, which to me is unbelievable to understand, continues not only in Muslim controlled countries but tragically also here in America.
The Jews are not blameless, but I contend they only want the right to exist in the land which was theirs before the birth of Christ which divides B.C. as before and A.D. after.
Jack Walters
Northeast side
How to regulate groundwater use in rural farming areas is an issue dividing the Governor’s Water Policy Council, prompting two members to quit.
Governor’s water policy
Re: the Oct. 30 article “Proposed water rules promise new growth.”
What is wrong with this council? Why on earth would this council advocate for allowing more residential development? Get a clue — there isn’t enough water now and there will be less in the future. Wake up and accept it. Things have changed.
James Doyle
North side
Genie out of the ‘AI’ bottle?
Re: the Oct. 29 article “It’s time to put AI on the ballot.”
There have been numerous articles recently about the urgency of finding ways to limit AI’s influence on our culture, industries and economies.
Unaddressed in all is whether AI is a new lifeform and thus has the right to grow and evolve as certainly as any human lifeform.
Here’s what I found on the internet: AI describes a family of technologies that in a sense can be compared to the human brain, capable of developing their own learning logic. Moreover, AI systems may go beyond the bounds of existing frameworks (beyond the limits of human brains that created them).
In his opinion piece Kevin Frazier, Assistant Professor at the Crump College of Law, advises legislators not to rush putting statutes on AI before considering whether those referendums would be legal. His point is valid since AI increasingly resembles a new lifeform that is rapidly evolving. One created by us, like us.
And it is quite possibly true that this genie is already out of the bottle.
Karen Papagapitos
Northwest side
Kidnapping, murder, dismemberment
Israel was attacked. Make no bones about it. People died at a music festival. Rockets are fired under a place of worship to kill innocent people. Is this the human thing to do? If the USA was under this bombardment what would we do? In WWII we firebombed Tokyo — did we let the people know? When we used an atomic bomb on two cities did we tell the people to move? A double standard exists. Hamas can fire rockets at Israel, but Israel cannot retaliate? Hamas has tunnels under civilian populations they are holding their own population hostage. Reports show that they are not letting their own population leave the area where they have rockets to protect the weapons. For peace to come the rockets must stop and they are to love life instead of death, martyrdom is not the way of the western world.
Sheldon Feldman
Marana
Border walls do work
Re: the Oct. 31 article “Migrants crossings on tribal lands surges.”
This story was a continuation of critical stories done by the Arizona Daily Star about the border wall. Border wall gaps being filled in at Sasabe have forced “migrants” west to cross illegally through the Tohono O’Odham reservation. Obviously border walls do work. The tribe can blame itself for the heavy human traffic now trampling over their land as they refuse to allow a border wall to be built. DHS Secretary Mayorkas just testified that for Fiscal Year 2023, 600,000 foreign persons entered illegally and eluded Border Patrol apprehension. FBI Director Wray testified that because of our support for Israel, the terrorism (Islamic) threat to America is at “a whole new level.” There was no criticism in the Star’s article of President Biden’s disastrous border policies that have greatly enriched the violent cartels that control human smuggling. It is politically telling that under Trump, the Star did almost weekly critical articles of his border policies yet with historic illegal immigration under Biden, they have done few if any. Why?
Dorothy Monroe
Sierra Vista
Swinging for the fences
Mike Johnson, the new Republican Speaker of the House is off to a world class start. Johnson is proposing legislation that would tie funding for Israel to reducing the IRS budget. This would greatly limit the IRS ability to tax the ultra-wealthy, leading to decreased tax revenues and widening the deficit, resulting in the opposite of what Republicans claim to care about. This proposed legislation would also damage the US’s reputation for world leadership. So, we have a lose/lose/lose here. Threatened support for Israel. Decreased tax reserves. Damaged US world reputation. Now that is what Republicans can call a home run!
Fran McNeely
Northeast side
Follow these steps to easily submit a letter to the editor or guest opinion to the Arizona Daily Star.
Carbon dioxide emissions
Re: the Oct. 30 letter “Carbon facts.”
Yes, facts are important, but so is context. The letter writer supports his argument that gasoline is worse than coal by contrasting the CO2 emissions from tons of coal and gallons of gasoline. A ton is a mass unit, whereas a gallon is a volume unit. Without standardizing on a common unit, such as Btus, no meaningful conclusions can be drawn. According to the Energy Information Administration, coal on average produces 211 pounds of CO2 per million Btu, whereas gasoline produces 156 pounds. So, for a comparable amount of energy produced, coal is clearly worse than gasoline with regard to CO2 emissions.
Additionally, there is substantial documentation in peer-reviewed literature to support a strong inverse relationship between atmospheric carbon and global ice coverage. As a starting point, I recommend the letter writer read “Global warming preceded by increasing carbon dioxide concentrations during the last deglaciation”, Nature, April 4, 2021.
Anthony Gary
Foothills
