Letter to the Editor: Are we choosing dignity, compassion, and humanity?

To the Editor:

Everyone deserves to be treated with respect and dignity regardless of status, legal or otherwise. What we are witnessing with current ICE tactics is troubling. It feels like echoes of a dark chapter in history. Racial profiling, fear, and intimidation. These have no place in a nation that claims to value human rights, due process, and freedom.

I am an American citizen. My family immigrated to the United States legally. My children were born here and are American citizens. My husband proudly served this country during Operation Iraqi Freedom. For years, we displayed the American flag on our porch with pride.

We are brown. We are Asians, that is our ethnicity. We have always proudly called ourselves Americans.

We took down our American flag. What is happening in our nation does not reflect the values we once felt proud of as Americans. The moral foundation that my husband believed in when joined the military when he turned 18.

I am afraid to simply walk in my own neighborhood, not because I’ve done anything wrong, but because I don’t look white. My five-year-old has cried because he is afraid he will be taken by ICE.

I never imagined feeling afraid to even “like” or share something on my own social media accounts. I worry about how criticism or dissent may be perceived, and whether speaking up could somehow put me or my family on a list or make us a target. I find myself questioning whether expressing concern could affect our ability to travel, to be able to get back to our home, or to live without fear of retaliation.

How is this acceptable? How did we get to a point where fear like this is normalized?

To my Shoreline community: we may have political differences, and that is okay. My husband and I have voted on both sides of the aisle. We consider ourselves independent because values and conscience, not party, guide how we live and vote.

This is not about politics.
This is about our shared humanity.

I ask you, my neighbors, to pause and reflect: if this fear were your child’s, your spouse’s, or your family’s - would this feel acceptable?

If families who have followed the rules, served and loved this country, can start to feel unsafe, what does that say about who we are becoming? Are we choosing dignity, compassion, and humanity?

Name withheld

Shoreline Resident