The Associated Press piece on how frequent lockdowns may have contributed to the Uvalde tragedy (July 20), is being used to soften the hard truth of accountability. Gov. Abbott supports the story and the authors have slanted it somewhat. The words, “may have been” might have been the only way the story made print.
The new findings that a culture of lockdowns due to “bailouts” by fleeing migrants is a reason joined by the authors with immigration policies, school lockdowns, complacency and the proximity of numerous immigrant detention centers in three nearby cities. Complacency seems valid, At least to Uvalde School Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who said, “That’s it,” “it” being complacency, was forced on the community because of migrant activity. Doesn’t he bear some of the burden of complacency?
Lockdowns — no actual numbers here — happen presumably when sirens scream on the two highways close to the school. In one report we are told that the Raptor alarm system doesn’t distinguish why there is a lockdown. It just goes off. Who is responsible for the system? Who trips the alarm? That would seem to be an important matter between the supposed threat of a migrant running for cover in a school from a “bailout” and an 18-year-old with an AR-15.
Why are the migrant detention centers even mentioned in this news piece? It appears like a hint of a threat. What if they get the doors unlocked and join the fleeing migrants from a bailout? And go directly to the school? Or is it another sort of link to immigration policy, which of course belongs solely to President Biden? Has any president for the past 20 or 30 years addressed real immigration reform?
Vicki Gaubeca, director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition, claims Gov. Abbott is the one contributing to the problem by creating a narrative that isn’t “reality on the ground. The reality on the ground,” she says, “is the place is oversaturated with law enforcement. The borders have been hyper-militarized,” an irony the parents and loved ones of the dead have already experienced.
Shirley Rickett
Alamo
Difficulties
under Trump
Mr. Melvin Thompson’s letter claims the Jan. 6 congressional committee is a witch hunt out to get Trump by the Democrats (July 25). Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t the only people testifying Republicans? So is what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, no big deal?
The problem is that we as Americans should be outraged at what happened on Jan. 6 and not deny that for the first time since the War of 1812 our Capitol was not only attacked but was not defended by our own president, who was trying to stop the certification of the electoral votes.
Mr. Thompson also claims that he doesn’t remember seeing empty grocery shelves under Trump. Has he forgotten the long lines of people outside the supermarkets across not only the Valley but across the country to buy groceries? Has he also forgotten the shortage of toilet paper, eggs, milk, meat and poultry? So when the supermarket had some, it would limit how much you could buy. We also had a limited supply of bottle water.
The supply issue we are having has nothing to do with Joe Biden. We are still feeling the effects of COVID-19. Mr. Thompson’s Saint Trump mishandled the COVID crisis and we are still paying for it.
Jesus Rodriguez
Elsa
