Miami residents, call Mayor Suarez and demand courage to reverse 287(g) vote | Opinion

Not so wonderful

Hope was crushed when residents of Miami stood not on the yellow brick road to security, but on the hot, concrete sidewalk outside Miami City Hall for more than an hour on June 17. They were met by commissioners with no courage, no heart and no brain, who voted against the numerous pleas for protection from the masked, flying monkeys of Kristi Noem’s Homeland Security, who disappear innocent people.

The Magic City will no longer be a safe haven for people with Spanish surnames, birthright citizenship, or those with legal status because our elected officials decided to pause the liberties enjoyed by diverse Florida communities. Rich, white Wizards hiding behind the curtains of bigotry want every state to look and behave like a Kansas fairy tale.

We can’t rely on ruby slippers, magic wands or mantras like, “there’s no place like home” to shield our neighbors from local police now required to cooperate with ICE. Call Mayor Francis Suarez at ✓305-250-5300 and demand he find a lion’s courage to veto Bill 287(g).

Bill McDonald,

Coconut Grove

What peace?

Donald Trump promised a presidency centered on peace. In his inaugural address, Trump highlighted peace while frequently criticizing former President Biden for the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Israel-Hamas war. He remarked, “We will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars that we end, and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.”

Is this yet another unfulfilled promise, another lie? Is he diverting attention from unresolved issues like tariffs, immigration, rising food prices, inflation and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza that he vowed to end on Day 1?

These were key reasons people voted for him. Now, he appears to be drawing the U.S. into a dangerous conflict with Iran by backing Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu, who has faced accusations of genocide in Gaza and escalating tensions with Iran.

This situation could result in serious consequences; it’s frightening and alarming.

Delia de Varona Garcia,

Miami

Seeking steadiness

As citizens of this country — and individually — how do we move forward when the government keeps kicking the can down the road?

We have delayed certain tariffs for another three months, the sale of TikTok has been delayed for at least the third time and immigration rules for hotel workers and farmhands keep changing.

How can one get a 30-year mortgage when we don’t know what tomorrow will bring?

Like it or not, we must have policies that allow us to plan for the future.

Art Young,

West Kendall

Education dilemma

Florida’s rapid charter school expansion is reshaping public education in troubling ways. Originally intended as innovative public options, many charters now advance a narrow set of conservative values, often sacrificing inclusivity and democratic oversight.

Schools affiliated with groups like Hillsdale College promote curricula that downplay systemic racism, emphasize religious perspectives and present a sanitized view of American history. Strict codes of conduct and selective enrollment further exclude students who don’t fit a particular mold, deepening segregation by race, income and ability.

This shift diverts billions of taxpayer dollars from traditional public schools, which are left to serve the highest-need students with fewer resources. Meanwhile, charter operators face less oversight, making it easier to prioritize ideology over evidence-based education.

The risk is clear: we are funding a parallel system that undermines the promise of public education: to serve all children and prepare them for life in a diverse democracy. Floridians must demand transparency, accountability and a renewed commitment to public schools that truly serve the whole community.

Paul Howard,

Naples

Questionable champs

As a life-long Edmonton Oilers fan, I offer my congratulations to the Florida Panthers for their Stanley Cup win. What a great team. However, I was dismayed and disappointed to see the video of their celebration.

My coaches always taught me that one had to learn how to lose and, as importantly, how to win with humility and treat your vanquished opponent with respect. That is what makes a great team a great champion. Here, the Panthers have a long way to go.

First, celebrating with the Stanley Cup in a strip club is a questionable choice for athletes who are supposedly role models for young boys and girls. Second, Panthers right wing Matthew ✓Tchachuk grabbed the microphone and mocked one of the greatest players in the world — Oilers’ center ✓Connor McDavid. Low class. Then the crowd chanted epithets at McDavid. No class. Then the strip club mockingly played the Oilers’ victory song, ✓“Pink Pony Club.” Low class and definitely no class.

The Panthers should model themselves on athletes who exude class, like the Oilers’ McDavid and ✓Leon Draisaitl and retired Oilers’ great Wayne Gretzky.

Are the Panthers a great team? Undeniably. A great champion? Not even close.

Jim Casey,

Edmonton, Alberta, CA

Laziness? No time

I’m 76 years old and I’ve been lazy. But I was on the line June 14, marching in the “No Kings” protest in Miami’s heat. I felt dizzy; my back and feet hurt; I wanted my couch and a glass of chilled wine. Yet, I witnessed a 90-year-old woman, an 81-year-old veteran and a priest in a wheelchair at the protest.

I rubbed elbows with people of all ages and complexions. My DIY signs were lost in a sea of funny posters mocking Donald Trump and serious warnings about loss of freedom. I thought of my 96-year-old mother who worries about the future of her great grandchildren. I learned a pardoned Proud Boy was in the crowd, scoping out the opposition.

I moved my sore feet to join 2,000 dedicated Miamians and five million Americans nationwide who battled heat and rain, threats and physical harm. I don’t know how many protests will make a difference, or if I’ll have the stamina to march.

But I’ll continue to harass Sens. Rick Scott and Ashley Moody and Rep. Maria Salazar. I’ll write editorials, encourage my neighbors to tune out false propaganda and whatever is my ability to stop this authoritarian administration from gutting our democracy.

Johnnie McDonald,

Miami

Medical politics

The often-heard saying, “A ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” is true in medicine. Vaccines have prevented countless deaths and tragedies.

Political ideology, however, does not ward off disease. Republicans and Democrats alike get sick and both went to hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr., has been replacing scientists with sycophants. He fired every member of the vaccine advisory council of the Center for Disease Control despite promising under oath at his confirmation hearing that he would not seek to inject his personal anti-vaccine views into our national health system.

This does not bode well for preventative medicine nor for anyone’s health.

R. Thomas Farrar,

Miami

Sad reality

Once again, I am stunned, disappointed and completely disgusted with the vote taken by the City of Miami Commission on June 17. Of the three commissioners who voted in favor of Miami police working with ICE agents, two are immigrants from Cuba, the third is a first generation born American also from a Cuban family.

I wonder if they would have been allowed to stay here if this insanity had been implemented when they and their families immigrated?

Miami Police barely can handle the issues of real policing of the city and now this is going to be imposed on them?

Oliver Hardy allegedly told Stan Laurel, “another fine mess you’ve got us into.” It was funny then, but It’s not funny now.

Irene Warner,

Miami