A history lesson for ICE
Last week, a federal judge in the Western District of Texas issued an order releasing Adrian Coneyo Arias and his preschooler son, Liam Ramos, from ICE detention. The 5-year-old’s arrest on his way home from his school in a Minneapolis suburb sparked international attention with a photo of an ICE agent clutching the child by the backpack.
The court’s decision, ordering the family’s release, was based on the writ of habeas corpus, a process dating back to England’s Magna Carta, which allows people to challenge a detention.
The judge went on to say: “Apparent also is the government’s ignorance of an American historical document called the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson enumerated grievances againsta would-be authoritarian king…. Among others were:1. ‘He has sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our People.2. He has excited domestic Insurrection among us.3. For quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us.4. He has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies without the consentof our Legislatures.’
We the people are hearing echoes of that history. And then there is that pesky inconvenience called the Fourth Amendment: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue,but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation…. Administrative warrants issued by the executive branch to itself do not pass probable cause muster. That is called the fox guarding the henhouse. The Constitution requires an independent judicial officer.
Accordingly, the Court finds that the Constitution of these United States trumps this administration’s detention of petitioner Adrian Conejo Arias and his minor son … and release from detention (is) GRANTED.”
Joe Haack, Naples
OK, you won, now goodbye
Aren’t you sick of Trump and his whiny enablers whining about his false claims to have won the 2020 election? He is so stupid, he is unaware of the consequences of accepting his lie. Maybe you aren’t?
I am so fed up with this crybaby loser that I am willing to accept the following: If we all agree to pretend what didn’t happen, that is, that Biden lost Trump won, then constitutionally we are obligated to agree that, if that falsehood was accepted as true, then the constitutional prohibition on Trump seeking a third term in 2024 would likewise apply. In that event Trump must be removed from office immediately as he was constitutionally ineligible to run for president in 2024 under the 22nd Amendment having “won” in 2016 and 2020.
OK Trump you won in 2020, wink, wink! Now, as the Von Trapp family said to the Nazis who took over Austria in “Sound of Music,” just before they emigrated to Switzerland: “So long, farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, goodbye. Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye”
Bob Geltner, U.S. Air Force veteran/ captain, North Fort Myers
Vote them out
We have had accurate and well-run elections in this country for 200 years. The Constitution requires elections to be run by the states. Why does Trump want to change this? It is because his hugely swollen ego won’t allow him to admit he lost and because he sees the coming elections going badly for Republicans and a repudiation of his crazy policies. He throws out these illegal ideas to see how the public will respond so we have to give him a resounding no. We need to make him obey the Constitution. Vote the Republicans out of office even here in red Florida.
Benjamin Glick, Naples
SNAP lacks nutrition standards
More than 40 million people — including nearly 20 million children — rely on SNAP every month to put food on the table. But, according to Dr. Mark Hyman of the Cleveland Clinic, “here’s the uncomfortable truth: while SNAP reduces hunger, it is quietly fueling another crisis — diet-driven chronic disease.”SNAP has no meaningful nutrition standards. “That means billions of public dollars are spent each year on ultra-processed foods that drive obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and premature death…. As a result, SNAP participants experience higher rates of diet-related disease than nonparticipants with similar incomes.”
I call on our senators and congressional representatives to continue funding SNAP but to reorient it around good nutrition and long-term health. SNAP should not fund ultra-processed foods, including sugary drinks.
Jean Chandler, Fort Myers
ICE enforcing the law
Former President Biden decided not to enforce our immigration laws. This has caused an incredible financial burden on all levels of government as well as civil unrest in the streets.
Have we forgotten that only six terrorists caused September 11, 2001! We cannot assume that anyone who crosses our borders are good people − we offer too many benefits which they somehow manage to qualify to receive.
I understand why the Democrats are for the undocumented immigrants – they are trying to endear themselves in the hopes of future votes! Remember they fight against Voter ID & some local municipalities allow non-citizens to vote.
They are causing mayhem in the streets for future political profits. Our I.C.E. agents are enforcing current immigration law. If the elected officials would cooperate with I.C.E. as they have always done in the past, there would be no civil unrest & mayhem in the streets. Dangerous criminals would be arrested at the local jails.
I’ve heard many times – “We are a nation of laws & we must enforce those laws.” Why doesn’t this statement apply to those who enter our country without permission?
Annamarie Donley, Naples
Where is the outrage
15,000-30,000 maybe more Iranians, many young, murdered, crippled, blinded by Iranian regime. Where is the umbrage, outrage, protests by university students, faculty, cries of genocide etc. by ordinary citizens. Only silence.
Stuart Morgenstein, Fort Myers
Bad Bunny at Super Bowl
After seeing Bad Bunny on the Grammy summary on this morning’s news, I sent an email to the NFL to remove this anti-American so-called singer from the Super Bowl. Goodell is super woke and I doubt he will remove him and replace him with Jelly Roll, but the fans will not watch it, and the ratings will be illustrative of America’s dislike for this anti-American novelty.
Michael Zubrow, Naples
We have been forewarned
So Mr. Trump wants to “nationalize” elections in those states and counties that did not vote for him, allowing him to be the final arbiter of who the winners are in the upcoming midterm elections. Let there be no doubt about it, Mr. Trump fears accountability for his massive abuse of power, his lawlessness, and his monumental grifting which even he admits will serve as the almost certain basis for his third impeachment should the Democrats take the House. Such a move would avoid the corrupt Mr. Trump from having to ask states like Georgia to “just find me 11,780 votes.” Of course MAGA would have had a collective heart attack had Joe Biden or Barack Obama made such a statement. With Trump, ne’er a peep is heard from the likes of our neutered representatives, Byron Donalds and Rick Scott, but this is where we are folks. Non-MAGA world can change it and is changing it and Trump and MAGA know it and this country must brace for everything from Mr. Trump and MAGA that will range from him declaring martial law to another attempt by MAGA at open insurrection to keep these bumbling idiots in power. It will not work.
Thomas Minor, Bonita Springs
National Guard in D.C.
I have just read on page 14A in Sunday’s paper that it costs us $1.8 million dollars a day to have the National Guard troops in Washington D.C. Doesn’t that seem like a lot! The troops are photographed picking up trash and helping with landscaping work. Why are the troops still there if needed for these types of jobs? And the Congress doesn’t mind keeping health care out of the reach of millions of Americans!
Lyn Brown, Fort Myers
Trump’s wrecking ball
If Democracy were a building, Donald Trump would be taking a wrecking ball to it. Upon further reflection, he has already done that to the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, the White House East Wing and most recently the Kennedy Center. But MAGA faithful fear not. In The White House Office of Creative Criminality, the gold gilded Epstein Files shredder will now be repurposed to disintegrate whatever remains of the Constitution. And Truth Social will thank you for your attention to this madness.
Manny Cacciola, Fort Myers
Trump’s trophy case
Rather than delay the inevitable, Melania should now be nominated for several Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actress. Trump will make sure she receives them either by threats, coercion or inducing others to give her their Oscars. He will put them in his trophy case alongside his Nobel Peace Prize, numerous golf championship trophies, Best Soldier Never To Have Served plaque, etc.
Donald Switzer, Naples
Hatred for Donald Trump
Do any secular media news outlets be it local or national ever do any investigative reporting before writing an article on his or her hatred for Donald Trump which drives the media today. How about following the money trail when it comes to politics? How about reporting that 500,000 children went missing under Biden administration and that Trump administration and ICE has recovered about 250,000 of these missing children.
I no longer watch nor follow any news cycle as it’s simply there to create fear and hatred and report bad news. I encourage all to watch EWTN, the weather channel or a favorite sporting event only and tune out everything and anything else including silly sitcoms that have one purpose to belittle and put authentic masculine men down.
Let nothing or no one steal your joy people, not even Donald Trump nor any other politician be he or she Democrat or Republican and let’s allow Donald Trump and ICE to do their jobs.
Charles DeFeo, Fort Myers
A wake-up call
Many people voted for this leader because they were angry, frustrated, or felt ignored. Some hoped he would disrupt a broken system. Others believed he would protect their family, their livelihood, or their future. Those motivations were human, and understandable.
But leadership is not judged by promises or performance for one group alone. It is judged by character under pressure, by respect for the rule of law, and by whether a leader understands that power exists to serve the nation, not the self.
What we are now seeing are cracks that can no longer be ignored. A leader who lacks empathy does not see citizens as people with lives, sons and daughters, wives and parents, and futures. They become numbers, obstacles, or tools. A leader who disregards the rule of law does not merely “bend rules,” he weakens the very protections that keep ordinary people safe from abuse of power. And a leader who dismisses long-standing alliances and relationships does not project strength; he leaves the country isolated and vulnerable.
When leaders place themselves and their families above the nation, everyone else pays the price. Savings are not protected by loyalty, homes are not secured by rhetoric, jobs, businesses, health, and freedom are not preserved by strongman politics. They are protected by stable institutions, fair laws, trusted courts, and leaders who understand restraint. No country remains strong when its citizens are treated unfairly, selectively, or vindictively. When justice becomes personal, legitimacy collapses. And when legitimacy collapses, the damage spreads far beyond politics, into families, communities, and futures.
Acknowledging a mistake is not a weakness. It is our responsibility. Democracies do not fail all at once. They fail when good people wait too long, hoping someone else will fix what is clearly breaking. Rallying to protect the country now is not betrayal of past beliefs, it is loyalty to what matters most. There is still time — but only if enough people are willing to look honestly at what is happening and say: this is not what I signed up for, and it is not what our forefathers, sons, and daughters died for!
Michael Davis, Naples
How many more disasters?
Does he really think that closing the Kennedy Center for 2 years to “upgrade” the facility will bring people flocking back to the venue? Does he really think that the “artists” who have canceled their performances will come rushing back to be there? How about the donors who provided funds to have this facility live up to standards that were already there? You can change the decor, upgrade anything you deem necessary, however, will anyone really come? As long as his name remains on the building, his people remain on the board, I suspect that will not happen. Now, how many people who have worked there for years will be furloughed and no longer have a job? How many more disasters will he bring to the American People? His ICE project so far has cost close to a half a billion dollars. This change to the Kennedy center is supposedly costing $257 million. His ballroom has ballooned to $400 million. There is no end to his need for acceptance and power.
Barbara Herstig, Naples
America’s crisis
Seduction, raping and trafficking of young women and girls is so heinous of a crime that even few of Trump’s MAGA followers condone it and that is what the Epstein files are all about. The longer Trump fails to produce the Epstein Files as required by law, the greater the implication of his involvement in Epstein’s crimes and liability of MAGA politicians including Florida’s Senators Rick Scott and Ashley Moody.
Thus, the “end-justifies-the-means” for Trump to distract the media and his MAGA’s from the Epstein Files. These distractions include: #1. Murders of innocent American citizens in Minneapolis by Trump’s masked ICE goons. #2. The unlawful military attack on Venezuela. #3. Moving more masked ICE goons into Minneapolis. #4. Trump’s fraud and corruption accumulating more than one billion $$ for him and his family. #6. January 6th treasonous insurrection against Congress, the history of which he is trying to hide. #7. Undermining of NATO over control of Greenland.
Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act (H.R. 4405) in November 2025, requiring the DOJ to release those files by December 19, 2025. Huge redactions and “week-to-week” and now “month-to-month” failure of Trump to release the Epstein files further implicates his involvement in Epstein’s crimes.
America’s crisis is due to failure of MAGA members of Congress to remove Trump from the presidency. They are akin to the followers of Mussolini shown in the Albanian Museum in Tirana. Their descendants will remember this time in history as their Days of Infamy in permitting Trump to systematically destroy America’s 250-year experiment in Democracy and now NATO.
William Pettinger M.D., Bonita Springs
Rule of law vs. weaponization
“Weaponizing the Justice Department” has become a favored accusation on both sides of our political divide. But repetition does not make the charge symmetrical, and treating it as such obscures an important distinction.
It is true that investigations of powerful political figures inevitably carry political consequences. Timing, prosecutorial discretion, and public perception all fuel claims of bias. That shared discomfort, however, should not be mistaken for shared conduct.
Under Donald Trump, attempts to bend the Justice Department toward personal and political ends were overt and well documented: public demands that political opponents be prosecuted, pressure on Justice Department leadership, and repeated efforts to discredit judges, juries, and prosecutors when outcomes proved unfavorable. These actions were not speculative. They were recorded, testified to, and examined by courts and inspectors general.
By contrast, accusations of weaponization under Joe Biden rest largely on insinuation. There is no evidence that Biden ordered prosecutions, interfered in charging decisions, or directed the Justice Department to target a political rival. Allowing prosecutors to follow evidence — even when it implicates a former president — is not weaponization. It is the rule of law functioning as intended.
Here the distinction matters. One side argues that the justice system, while legitimate, can be imperfect and uneven in its outcomes. The other sought to make it obedient. One critiques decisions within the system; the other challenged the system’s legitimacy itself.
Democracies do not fail because court decisions are controversial. They fail when leaders insist that law enforcement exists to protect allies and punish enemies. Using the same word to describe fundamentally different behaviors blurs that line — and dulls our ability to recognize the real threat when it appears.
Michael Troop, Naples
The movie ‘Nuremberg’
I enjoyed reading Gail Harper’s article in Naples News regarding the Nuremberg trials, her interview with trial witness Ben Ferencz, and the 2025 movie “Nuremberg.” The movie is well-paced and features exceptional performances by most of the actors. The movie is based on Jack El-Hai’s 2013 book, “The Nazi and the Psychiatrist,” but producers of “Nuremberg” remind audiences that the movie is “based on historical events closely adapted to El-Hai’s book.” That is to say, that the Hollywood creators took certain artistic license in portraying actual events. For example, the movie depicts a meeting between Pope Pius XII and Justice Robert Jackson − a clumsy scene of a meeting that never happened. Pope Pius, a former prelate in Germany prior to WWII, has hardly been bathed in innocence in face of Nazi threats. But, why insert such a fictitious scene in a serious movie?
“Nuremberg” features main characters Russell Crowe as Nazi leader Hermann Goring and Rami Malek as U.S. Army psychiatrist Douglas Kelly. Crowe delivers an Oscar-nominating performance, while Malek’s performance has been criticized for “over-acting.” But reviewers agree that nearly all supporting actor roles in the movie were excellent. Despite media portrayals, psychiatrist Douglas Kelly did not attend Goring’s trial in Nuremberg. Although he engaged with Goring for months prior to the trial, Kelly was back in the states at the time the trial took place. As Ms. Harper emphasizes, (fact-based) human history is so (vitally) important to our future. By all means, see the movie, be aware of man’s inhumanity to man, and celebrate the undertaking of international justice. Too bad Goring committed suicide the night before his scheduled execution − death by hanging.
Jack Paster, Estero
Illegal immigrants and crime
SWFL Voices contained a letter entitled Hypocrisy from Democrats in which the author raged on about how Democrats never mentioned the list of people killed by illegal immigrants and how the Democrats do not care about victims of illegal immigrants. He goes on to say that the American people do care. This is followed by this statement: “There should be absolutely no crime committed by illegal immigrants because they should not be here anyway.” This statement suggests that legal immigrants (i.e. U.S. citizens) are the only ones that CAN commit crimes! So sad to suggest that all people who are Democrats are guilty of not caring about any victim of crime. This is a ridiculous statement since most American people probably belong to some political party and undoubtedly do not consider crime acceptable regardless of who commits it. Sad also that this Republican writer is politicizing crime committal as only acceptable if committed by U.S. citizens. People who commit criminal acts should be punished regardless of what their citizen or political status is. FYI, I am not politically affiliated and try always to vote for the candidate that seems most likely to do the job for which he/she is running.
Bette Dion, Naples
Motivated reasoning
Liberals, who write letters to the editor calling attention to the disastrous actions of Donald Trump, are like Cassandra, whose admonitions at the walls of Troy fell on deaf ears in a story which highlights the futility of being in the know and speaking to an audience cursed by “motivated reasoning.” “Motivated reasoning” is a bias by which desires, beliefs, fears and unconscious motivations shape the way one interprets the facts. It is the tendency to adjust reality to what one already believes and to reject those facts that go against one’s convictions, beliefs and ideas. Motivated reasoning explains why intelligent people can look at the same facts but come away with totally different conclusions, depending on what they want to believe.
Motivated reasoning explains why Trump Americans can look at the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti and conclude that they deserved to die. A quote from Voltaire comes to mind. “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.“
Sally (Cassandra) Lam, Naples
Emerson quote on consistency
A letter writer on January 24 misquoted Ralph Waldo Emerson’s quote on consistency. The writer stated consistency is called the hobgoblin of small minds. The correct quote is “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.” Leaving out the word “foolish” is the key part of the error. If you were proven to be always right, why wouldn’t you want to be consistent? What, all of a sudden you’re going to say to yourself, “Gee, I’m getting tired of always being right. I think for the next week I’ll espouse positions that are wrong.” Of course, you’re not going to do that. When using quotes to strengthen your own position, it’s always best to get the quote correct.
Charles Bainbridge, Naples
Retribution from Trump
With all the terrible happenings in Minneapolis lately, it’s hard to understand why there isn’t more flak against the selection of states governed by Democrats for the incursions of ICE personnel (thousands of them) being deployed only to these selected cities. One may ask “why is this?” The only explanation has to be hate and retribution from DJT and his minions. I live in Florida so we are probably in the clear for attacks here. I don’t know how many illegal immigrants reside in the Sunshine State but it has to be a very high number especially in the farming and construction realms. There have been ICE activities in this state but nothing at all like Minneapolis and other large blue cities.
If there is any relief in these atrocities it, unfortunately, has to come after the midterms but how many more will be killed or maimed by then? Watching the news everyday and seeing the goons strike and pepper spray citizens is reminiscent of totalitarian countries.
Glenn Chenot, Cape Coral
Obedient MAGA trolls
A frequent contributor to this column continuously perpetuates a lie. “The Democratic Party allowed 10 million and more illegals into this country giving them health care, financial assistance and food stamps.“ This is a frequent rant of the MAGA right which is simply not true. They could look it up, but it doesn’t fit the narrative. Does the far right ever wonder where the J Sixers, Proud Boys, Three Percenters, Militia men went? Did they all suddenly find jobs? Do they wonder why the president is suing the taxpayers for 10 billion dollars? Do they ever question anything or just be obedient MAGA trolls? It looks to me like the 250-year-old experiment is over unless it can be saved by the Epstein scandal. Maybe salacious sex can save the country.
Laurence Jacks, Estero
Tom Homan then and now
In 2015, then President Obama awarded a Presidential Rank Award to the then executive associate director of enforcement and removal operations at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). That person was responsible for deportation efforts and advocated for policies that included family separation as a deterrent to illegal immigration. ICE deported around 3 million illegal immigrants and due process concerns were never raised. The person who received that award was none other than Tom Homan, who currently leads deportation efforts for President Trump. Can someone explain to me why the outrage today when the same action by the same person was honored some 10 years ago?
Ron Wobbeking, Naples
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Echoes of history and Declaration of Independence | Opinion letters
Reporting by Letter writers / Fort Myers News-Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
