Letters to the editor: Immigration, smart carts, river otters, homelessness, incarceration

Immigration

It has been over 30 years since our federal government has reformed our immigration laws and delivered a pathway to lasting citizenship to millions of undocumented people who already contribute significantly to our country. We all need to work together to conceptualize a system that creates a clear pathway to citizenship for all immigrants.

This alone would help provide access to health care for more members of the immigrant community, shortening the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It would help plug our labor shortage and provide robust economic opportunity. And it would undercut a currently oppressive system that brings conflict into our communities, like violent encounters with ICE.

Best of all, reforming immigration law would alleviate the unnecessary and manufactured violence and scarcity that burdens our immigrant brothers and sisters who are also our neighbors, friends and family members in our community.

Our state prospers economically, culturally and socially when we ensure that everyone that contributes can have their needs met and prosper. Please write to Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch and urge them to take action.

Eric K. Willadsen, Boise

Smart carts

My husband and I moved to Eagle only a few months ago but one of the things that immediately struck us was the friendliness of everyone here. The local grocery stores are no exception to this. I, thus, read with dismay the article about Albertsons introducing “smart carts” that will electronically perform every task we expect from live checkers; i.e., scanning merchandise, weighing it, ringing up totals.

While I can appreciate that many shoppers want to avoid long lines or perhaps even eschew any personal interactions with strangers, what does it say about us as a society that being plugged in to another inanimate object is yet one more way to become increasingly insular and emotionally detached?

Don’t we already have enough instances of people — especially the younger generation — being unable to communicate unless it’s via texting or tablet? I, for one, love chatting with checkers and even sharing recipe tips on what I’m planning to cook with the ingredients I’m purchasing.

I’d rather have warm smiles, eye contact, laughter and “smart” conversation with a real human being than feeling as if I’m living in an automated, regimented and sterile world where any and all personal contact is frowned upon.

Christina Hamlett, Eagle

Incarceration

I found Bryan Clark’s recent criticism of Idaho’s high incarceration rates to be naive and misguided at best, and at worst, dangerous. As a criminal law attorney, I can assure you there is a direct correlation between the low crime and high incarceration rates in Idaho.

Each of the ideas floated by Mr. Clark have already been forced on the California justice system by various liberal governors and the state legislature, including releasing people imprisoned for “nonviolent” offenses and parole violations, reducing sentencing guidelines for both drug possession and trafficking, eliminating mandatory minimum sentences, allowing judicial discretion in sentencing and reducing bail, among many others.

Unfortunately, these approaches have promoted a tolerance of crime which only exacerbates criminal behavior and enables even “low-level” offenders to terrorize the public with impunity, particularly for drug trafficking and property crimes, which have a disproportionately negative impact on vulnerable populations and law-abiding citizens.

As someone who has directly witnessed the disastrous effects of dismantling the California legal system and the resulting death of the California Dream, I can assure you that Idaho should not want the same for its people. There is a fine line between compassionate justice and anarchy in the streets.

Jacob Lauser, Redding, California

River otters

As a former resident of Idaho, a kayaker and someone who advocates for the protection of our rivers and wildlife, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game’s proposal to remove all restrictions on trapping limits for river otters justifies the department’s win of the 2021 Grinch Award.

River otter! One of the most beloved critters of any river corridor! I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t want to see more of them. They blow the top off the most-adorable-fun-loving-critters-to-behold scale. In the United States, the faux fur market offers incredibly real, no-kill fur substitutes, so trapping them to earn money in the fur trade would most likely mean shipping them overseas, and killing them for recreation is, well, what do you think? Where is the need? What is the benefit?

The presence of river otters is a key indicator of a river system’s health. Show me the science that says they are a problem to humankind! Idaho’s economy and tourism industry has benefited greatly from protecting and promoting the beauty and health of its magnificent rivers. Idahoans, don’t let your feet get caught in this backward-thinking trap. Say “no” to this proposal!

Bonnie Olin, Junction City, Oregon

Homelessness

Outstretched rusty vehicles line the edge of a potholed street smelling of trash and human excrement. My eyes and nose fixate on this tragedy, and my ears sense an early bustling of groaning people waking from an uncomfortable night’s slumber. Dilapidated tent communities are dispersed throughout the city’s public property smelling of marijuana and littered with trash. Wherever my eyes wander, graffiti is found. Local citizens navigate around the homeless seemingly oblivious of the tragedy they traverse. Fearful business owners and taxpayers are absconding. Desperation of soul and an abandonment of will pervades throughout the hearts of those within this homeless entrapment. This is an all too familiar story for many western U.S. cities.

Increasing shelter capacity, expanding low-income housing, outlawing temporary shelters and panhandling on public property and maintaining laws that allow police discretion to incarcerate habitual drug offenders and vagabonds who refuse to move to secure shelters is the framework to prevent and reduce rampant homelessness. Elect officials that will craft effective policies and consider making contributions to those nonprofit organizations (versus panhandlers) this holiday season that meet basic needs, but more importantly, provide a track toward self-sustainment and taxpayer status.

Douglas O’Coyne Jr., Meridian