Letters to the Editor | Sept. 15, 2026
Inquirer readers on Pennsylvania towns participating in immigration detention agreements with ICE and President Trump’s pledge to pay voters should the GOP triumph in the midterm elections.
What law?
If, in fact, as I have read, bribing individuals to vote in a particular way is illegal.
If, in fact, we are to take Donald Trump’s offer of $5,000 to every adult in America if and when the Republican Party gains control of specified governing bodies, is this not, in fact, a bribe? A bribe by the man holding the most powerful office in America, the man sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States, or are we just supposed to laugh this off as only another of Trump’s little affectations? Please do not tell me this is not a bribe; please do not tell me Trump is indemnified from prosecution.
A bribe is a bribe; a law is a law. We are on the cusp of creating a society of millions of people who will sense that the Constitution and laws supporting it are only applicable to those who do not have the means to defend themselves.
Wake up, America — we are in troubled times. Do we or do we not have laws? Or is it that what we do have is a government rife with self-serving wealthy individuals who would rather turn a blind eye?
Philip A. Tegtmeier Sr., Honey Brook
. . .
There’s never been anything subtle about President Donald Trump. Now he’s promising a $5,000 check to every adult if the Republicans retain control of the House and the Senate. Let’s not pussyfoot around about Trump’s promised bonanza to the American people. It’s an outright attempt to bribe the people and “buy” our vote. Mr. President, it “ain’t gonna work.” We will not sell our vote to the highest bidder, especially to a man who is infamous for stiffing those he owes money to. No, Donald Trump, we’ll not sell our soul that readily — and besides, while it’s true that some men’s word is as good as gold, your word is not even worth the paper it’s printed on.
Ken Derow, Swarthmore
Losing accountability
After reading Will Bunch’s informative column about Schuylkill County, Pa., and how local police departments there are joining forces with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in order to get money, I found myself focusing not only on the payments themselves, but also on the fact that any information regarding these relationships asked of these departments requires Freedom of Information Act requests with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Now that might not seem terrible until you realize reporters and newspapers are how we, the citizens, find out what’s happening in our communities, and if the police will not be clear and the commissioners are withholding information, then we are being kept in the dark. That means people who are paid with our taxes and supposedly work for us are suddenly not accountable. I ask my fellow Pennsylvanians, “Are you OK with that?” Are you OK with what is happening across this state, having no say in it — and then being told you don’t have a right to know?
Liese Sadler, Philadelphia
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