Protest, Even If You're Wrong

This is a reply to the front page article in the January 22, 2026 Norwood Article about the ICE Protest in Norwood. First off, President Obama was called the "Deporter-in-Chief" for his immigration enforcement activities while in office. He used the same law enforcement officers and tactics being used now. Just Google it, if anyone is skeptical. Tell me why he wasn't a target of a "national effort" for protest, after all he deported 3 million? The difference is vetting and who is President at the time! During Obama's term many of the illegal immigrants were identified and released after applying for asylum. If asylum was not granted, which historically has been 80-90% of the time, many of the seekers had to be tracked down because they disobeyed the deportation orders.

The phrase "escalating fascist threat" is a curious term describing the current administration. Now, Iran is a real fascist state. They shoot their protestors on sight, thousands so far! Peaceful protest in this country is allowed, if not encouraged. However, when protestors engage in activities that interfere with the lawful operations of immigration officials, the protests are no longer peaceful and become unlawful. There are many inaccurate claims about tactics used. For instance, the 5-year old boy used as bait to arrest his father, in the news recently. The truth is, his father abandoned his son when ICE tried to arrest him. Officers then stopped the pursuit to find the boy's family.

The present national effort is due to the large number of illegal immigrants allowed into this country without any vetting by the Biden administration. President Trump was elected to deal with the immigration problem. This problem has made it very difficult to locate them, especially because of sanctuary policies in some states and cities. If local government officials cooperated with ICE everyone would be safer during the process. The primary targets are criminals, the "worst of the worst". If other illegal immigrants are found with them, they will be apprehended, after all it is unlawful to be in this country without permission. How come no one has protested the 320,000 unaccompanied minors allowed to enter this country with unvetted "guardians" that the Biden administration lost track of? The present administration has dedicated resources to identifying relatives of these children, the results of which have united more than10,000 so far.

Throughout the article protestors state that they are exercising their rights. I do not know of any instance where ICE protestors acting lawfully were denied their First Amendment rights. Do they appreciate that these rights are protected in U.S. law, but a fascist state would suppress protestors violently, as in Iran? As I see it, the protestors have a right to be wrong!

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Tom Guiod

Norwood