To the Editor:
Re “Trump Wavers on Due Process Rights Under the Constitution” (news article, May 5):
On Jan. 20, 2025, Donald Trump swore an oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. So help me God.”
On May 2, 2025, when asked whether he needed to “uphold the Constitution of the United States,” the president answered, “I don’t know,” and referred to his “brilliant lawyers.”
If the president needs a lawyer to know that the oath he took requires him to uphold the Constitution, God help us all.
Jonathan Maskit
Granville, Ohio
The writer teaches political philosophy at Denison University.
To the Editor:
What is unfolding before us is not hard to recognize. These are the tactics of authoritarian regimes: erasing due process, weaponizing immigration enforcement and outsourcing cruelty to foreign strongmen.
That the Trump administration is proudly funding the detention of innocents in El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, known as CECOT — a place that meets every definition of a concentration camp — is a grotesque betrayal of American values and human decency.
Worse still is the silence. Too many in our government and in the public seem more disturbed by fluctuations in the stock market than by the collapse of the rule of law or the torture of fellow human beings. Are we so numbed by spectacle and partisanship that we cannot see the peril right in front of us?
This is not just about migrants. It’s about all of us. The rights and protections we take for granted mean nothing if they can be so easily ignored. Today, it’s Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia. Tomorrow, it could be anyone who finds themselves inconvenient to power.
If we are to preserve any semblance of a democratic society, we must call this what it is: lawlessness, cruelty and a threat to the American Republic. We must act — through protest, the courts and above all, the ballot box — before it is too late.
Robert Stewart
Chantilly, Va.
Immigration Questions
To the Editor:
Re “Trump Is Going Too Far in Amassing His Power, Most Voters in Poll Say” (front page, April 26):
While the results of the New York Times/Siena College poll suggest that support for President Trump’s immigration policies is waning somewhat, the article suggests that most Americans still support deportation.
Perhaps the polls should be asking a more nuanced set of questions that would force respondents to address the reality of undocumented workers and the consequences of mass deportation.
Here are some suggestions:
1. If undocumented immigrants are deported, are you personally willing to:
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Do their job milking cows and shoveling manure on a dairy farm?
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Travel from farm to farm picking fruit all year?
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Process chicken in a substandard meatpacking plant?
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Handle toxic waste at a disaster site?
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Use a leaf blower all day in 100-degree temperatures?
2. If the answer to any of these questions is no, who do you think should do that work?
3. What should the government do to or for someone who does these jobs to support your own lifestyle, health and well-being?
Leslie Turpin
Westminster West, Vt.
Compassion for Seniors
To the Editor:
Re “Overhaul Dismantles the Agency Running Meals on Wheels” (news article, April 25):
I’m a 74-year-old woman who delivers for Meals on Wheels to senior citizens in Orange County, Calif. Two of the people on my route of nine are turning 100 this year. One is a fiercely independent Asian woman and the other a British woman who always calls “Come in, love!” when I ring the bell. They live alone. They can no longer shop for groceries or stand to cook. But they enjoy being independent and appreciate the meals I bring.
President Trump, please don’t make them leave their homes. It would be cruel. Have some compassion for your elders.
Rebecca Allen
Laguna Hills, Calif.
#Opinion #Trump #Constitution #Dont
