Letters to the Editor | Jan. 30, 2026

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker and everyone on City Council must urgently support the “ICE Out” legislative package introduced by Councilmembers Kendra Brooks and Rue Landau, which would restrict local cooperation with federal agents. We’ve all watched the horrific scenes playing out in Minneapolis, and while Mayor Parker has made it clear that she wants to avoid antagonizing the White House, the fact is that laying low has never been the right response to fascism. We know how spectacle-focused Donald Trump is, so with the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations coming to Philadelphia this year, it’s only a matter of time before the president turns his gaze on our city and tries to make an example of our community. Let’s prepare now to protect our neighbors in whatever ways we can — including by passing the “ICE Out” bills.

Melina Blees, Philadelphia

The critical role of immigrant workers in healthcare is underscored by your recent article about the death of nurse Muthoni Nduthu, the nurse who perished with two others in an explosion at Silver Lake Nursing Home in Bucks County.

Ms. Nduthu and her family emigrated from Kenya to Philadelphia two decades ago. Like many immigrants — some, yes, undocumented — she worked long hours and put herself through school to become part of the huge share of foreign-born workers in the healthcare sector — 28% of the overall direct care workforce for long-term care, and 32% of workers in home care settings, according to a 2025 analysis by KFF.

What would the steadily growing U.S. aging population do without these men and women?

As a nurse myself, and recently having family members in other rehabilitation centers, I can attest to the important roles of immigrants and people of color in providing care. It is tough work, with a median annual wage of $16,800, according to a brief prepared for the SCAN Foundation. Consequently, there isn’t a clamor for these jobs by native-born Americans.

The Trump administration’s immigration policies and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deployments are having a chilling effect on immigrants seeking employment in healthcare — something we absolutely don’t need as our aging population demands more care.

We need more people committed to helping others like Nduthu. Let’s honor her memory by welcoming newcomers to our country, thoughtfully reforming immigration laws, and realizing that adequate healthcare can’t be achieved without immigrants.

Pat Ford-Roegner, Glen Mills

I’ve been increasingly frustrated with Jonathan Zimmerman’s columns, which strike me as not meeting the moment we live in. His most recent, “On guns, everyone’s a hypocrite,” is a prime example of what I would describe as utopian thinking. I agree that “Guns are a scourge on America.” But I would urge him to consider: What exactly does it accomplish to publicly state that Alex Pretti “carrying a gun certainly made it more likely that he would [die]”? Doing so reinforces the statements of the Trump administration, aiding in providing cover to murderers. Far better to highlight the hypocrisy of the administration abandoning its Second Amendment principles out of convenience. And we need not look far for a counterexample, Renee Good, who was unarmed and yet was still murdered.

I would love to live in a world in which simply repeating over and over the data and history of the gun debate brought an end to gun violence. But we’ve been doing that for decades now. We don’t live in the same world we did before Donald Trump took office. In my opinion, the moment calls for realpolitik, not idealism. To appropriate the National Rifle Association’s oft-repeated oversimplification: Guns didn’t kill Alex Pretti. ICE agents did.

Michael Fox, Philadelphia

The both-sides-ing on display in Jonathan Zimmerman’s column, “On guns, everyone’s a hypocrite,” is pathetic and counterproductive.

Not every issue needs to be seen from both sides. When one “side” shows up to a protest and murders someone with a gun, and the other “side” shows up to a protest and gets murdered while armed.

Zimmerman is missing the point that the left’s defense of gun ownership is in response to our government lying to us and saying Alex Pretti posed a threat as a retroactive excuse for the actions of their fascist goon squads, while video evidence proved otherwise. Maybe he wants to write an article about gun control, but this framing is completely missing the point; it is victim-blaming garbage.

Timothy Burgess, Philadelphia

I was a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Somalia and had the opportunity to experience the rich Somali culture. I am appalled and ashamed to have Donald Trump treat the Somali population of the United States with disdain and disrespect.

Unfortunately, this attitude has spread to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement members in Minnesota. It is reported that ICE is stopping people and asking, “Are you Somali?” as if that were a crime. In that climate, it’s no wonder Somali American U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar found herself being attacked during a recent town hall she was hosting there.

Seventy-three percent of Somali immigrants are naturalized citizens. In Minnesota, this figure is even higher, with about 95% of the state’s Somali population holding U.S. citizenship.

No people deserve to be called “garbage.” I do not believe this reflects the character or convictions of most Americans. Most of us are descended from immigrants.

Our country is founded on the belief that all people have the right to due process and to be treated with respect.

We need to depend on our government of laws and judicial review to protect our rights, including those of the Somali Americans among us. Raise your voices in protest. Write the president and your members of Congress. Do something to help keep our democracy alive.

Lally Turner, Philadelphia

George Santayana is quoted as saying, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” I think for our times, we need a slight variant of this saying. This seems especially true in light of the Trump administration’s decision to remove the exhibit at the President’s House Site about the nine enslaved people who were held captive by George Washington. Please ask yourself, “Why does this administration not want us to remember them?” I now believe the Santayana saying should read, “Those who seek to erase the past intend to repeat it.”

Beware, my fellow citizens: If these nine — Austin, Christopher Sheels, Giles, Hercules, Joe Richardson, Moll, Oney Judge, Paris, and Richmond — can be erased, who is next?

Deborah Zubow, Philadelphia

I read the recent article about Donald Trump supporters in Northeast Pennsylvania having “voter’s remorse” after casting ballots for Trump. Sorry, boys and girls, you get no sympathy from me. Trump is exactly who he has always been, and your failure to see that in the 2024 election is nothing more than an indictment of you. One woman interviewed made the incredible statement that Trump was “honest.” Give me a break. I have always maintained that Trump himself is only part of the equation, the “frontman,” if you will. The real problem is represented by the people who believe, support, and back him up. They say they don’t particularly like him, but they like his “policies.” What policies might they be? Attempting to steal Greenland? Already having stolen Venezuela’s oil? Insulting allies? Threatening NATO and its members? Attempting to rewrite the parts of our history he doesn’t like? Failing to reduce inflation as he promised? Failing to end the Ukraine war as he promised? Killing American citizens while his ICE squad rounds up immigrants? The list goes on and on.

I am anything but a liberal, having never voted for a Democrat for any office. I’d go so far as to say I support some of Trump’s policies, but he simply can’t get anything right, let alone keep his mouth shut or control his “Twitter finger.” If Trump doesn’t like it, everyone else be damned. A decent parent wouldn’t accept this kind of behavior from a 6-year-old.

Enough already. Trump is what he has always been: a pompous, egotistical, selfish, childish buffoon — the same guy voted into office by those people interviewed for your article. If their standards revolve around the likes of Trump, they need to do the country a favor. Stay home in November and then again in 2028. Let the rest of us try to fix the problem you helped to create.

Peter Moore, Jeffersonville

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