Editor:

Regarding a letter to the editor from Terry Sparks: Mr. Sparks’ central assumption is that the Trump Administration “has removed thousands of criminal illegal aliens” from the U.S., as his letter states. That has not been the case at all, though Donald Trump wants the country to believe that.

Unfortunately, the most recent statistics show that 80 percent of those detained by this Trump Administration have no criminal record whatsoever. In addition, Trump has actually taken away the legal status of 1.6 million immigrants granted permission to be in the U.S. Mr. Sparks is correct that the Obama Administration focused on removing immigrants with a criminal record. President Obama removed 3.1 million people in the U.S. illegally, with the majority having criminal records.

We all want to see laws enforced. But please ask yourself, who is breaking our laws?

Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti were American citizens. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the rights of freedom of speech, assembly and petition, protecting our rights to protest, march, and demonstrate in public places such as streets, sidewalks, and parks. And by the way, this is a constitutional right of everyone, regardless of their immigration status. People in the U.S. also have the right to record law enforcement officers.

Mr. Sparks’ comment that “Americans do not get to pick and choose which laws they feel like following” is exactly true. So let’s focus on who is actually breaking our laws: Donald Trump, Trump Administration officials and masked ICE agents.

Joann Hamick Quintana

Langley