As the ‘experts’ fret, Trump is protecting Americans with strike in the Caribbean | Opinion

Sink that dope

Re: the Sept. 14 Miami Herald story, “Experts condemn U.S. attack on Caribbean boat as ‘premeditated murder.’” Please do not insult the intelligence of your readers. The individuals mentioned in the report as experts have their political agenda, self-interests and priorities. None of them have the necessary background to make the comments they did.

The report stated the Trump administration “claimed” that the boat, carrying drugs and 11 individuals, were members of the Tren de Aragua criminal network. And they were. We saw it with our own eyes on the TV news. Drugs were scattered all over the ocean. There was no “claim” involved; it was indeed real.

The occupants of these boats are bringing drugs into our country and harming or killing our youth daily. Our president’s agenda is to protect Americans first, but so-called experts are only concerned with the well-being of these criminals and their so-called human rights.

While these criminals are not armed with weapons, their cargo is a lethal killer of many Americans. Our president has the guts and bravery to protect American citizens first. The agenda of protecting criminals is over.

Lucita L. Moran,

Coral Gables

City salaries

Many of us find it ironic that the Miami Herald editorial board, in its Sept. 16 online editorial, “Troubling trend in South Florida: commissioners voting to increase their salaries,” chose to call out elected officials in a Broward County city for raising their pay, while remaining silent when the same happened in Miami-Dade County, specifically in the City of Coral Gables.

Did the Herald condemn the 101% salary increase approved in 2023 by then-Gables Commissioner Kirk Menendez, along with Commissioners Ariel Fernandez and Melissa Castro?

No.

Did the editorial board speak up when then-Commissioner Rhonda Anderson and I repeatedly urged our colleagues to avoid approving that increase — even asking not to be included?

No.

I commend the board for finally embracing the principles of fiscal responsibility and due process in matters related to elected officials’ compensation. However, I am disappointed the editorial didn’t mention that Vice Mayor Anderson, newly elected Commissioner Richard Lara and I, following last April’s election, took steps to correct this issue. That context matters.

Vince Lago,

mayor,

Coral Gables

Bond protest

Re: the Sept. 22 story, “‘She’s wrong.’ Son of Miami-Dade mayor joins fight against county Israel bonds.” When I was president of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in Miami during the 1990s, I had the opportunity to work with Daniella Levine Cava (now county mayor) on mental illness advocacy. We took bus loads of people to Tallahassee to protest the lack of funding for mental illness during the Bush administration. I also participated in several other programs with Levine Cava to advocate for Miami’s marginalized people.

For many years, including during her time as mayor, Levine Cava has worked diligently and compassionately to make life better for millions of Miamians. Selling the county’s Israel bonds will have no bearing on stopping the genocide in Gaza nor will it have any effect on the county’s budget. Further, the interest rate on the bonds is better than on U.S treasuries.

I have sympathy for her son, Ted Cava, in wanting to sell off the bonds, but he might find a better way to protest.

Jerry Marcus,

Coral Gables

Schools at risk

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Endangerment Finding put a spotlight on the real threats greenhouse gases pose to us all. For South Florida, it’s a critical safeguard helping to slow the changes that fuel stronger hurricanes, worsen flooding, raise sea levels and intensify extreme heat that would disrupt our schools. Rolling it back would undermine decades of scientific progress and proven protections. We cannot operate as “if” these disruptions may happen; it is “when” they will happen.

In April 2023, extreme rainfall closed all Broward public schools and kept many Miami-Dade students, especially those relying on public transit, from getting to class. Extreme heat also impacts learning; about a third of U.S. students attend schools located in urban heat islands.

Without the endangerment finding, mitigating and preventing school closures due to extreme weather will become unnecessarily harder. Our community deserves a government that listens to science, safeguards public health and helps prepare us for the challenges ahead.

Luisa Santos,

Miami-Dade School Board,

Miami

Late night lame

What Steven Colbert’s and Jimmy Kimmel’s late night talk shows have in common, aside from their contemptuous hateful attacks of Donald Trump and his supporters, is that they are not funny and are not entertaining.

Compare them to the old Johnny Carson, David Letterman or Jay Leno shows (which still may be viewed on YouTube). They did not have a political agenda but used political satire and were equal opportunity offenders. One would be hard pressed to know their politics. Their aim was to entertain their late-night audiences, which they did successfully for many years.

Gilbert Schwartz,

Aventura

Location, location

As a 1963 graduate of Miami Dade College and a donor of a teaching fellowship, I am against placing the Trump Presidential Library next to the Freedom Tower. The Beacon of Freedom for refugees in Miami should not have the Father of Anti-Immigration next to it.

Use the land at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach. Trump can afford it!

Juan A. Galan, Jr.,

Coral Gables

Brown honored

Congratulations to Miami Herald reporter Julie K. Brown, who received a lifetime achievement award by IRE (Investigative Reporters and Editors), for her work exposing the sex crimes of Jeffrey Epstein. Brown is my hero. My thanks to her for all the work she has done to expose Epstein’s horrors and our flawed legal system.

Thanks also to the Miami Herald, for having people like Brown working for the paper. Without such great people, Americans would not know the extent of what that gross man did and what our government did to help this criminal.

Jackie Centofanti,

Dania Beach

Work visas work

The H-1B visa has become a political target, with critics claiming it lowers wages and displaces U.S. workers. In reality, employers must pay H-1B professionals the federally mandated “prevailing wage,” ensuring fairness while giving companies access to specialized skills. Far from harming U.S. jobs, the program sustains them by keeping innovation here.

We compete in a global economy where remote work is routine. If U.S. firms cannot hire talent domestically, they will outsource, at lower cost and with none of the local economic benefits of housing, retail, or services.

Proposals to raise H-1B costs to $100,000 per application would reserve innovation for giant corporations while excluding start-ups, the very companies that historically drive breakthroughs and job creation. Apple, Google and Tesla all began as small ventures powered by diverse global talent.

History shows immigration fuels growth: Einstein, Brin, Musk and Nooyi expanded U.S. opportunity rather than diminished it. Restricting H-1Bs will not bring back low-wage manufacturing; it will only push talent overseas, weaken competitiveness and shrink opportunity at home.

America’s greatness has always rested on openness to ideas and people from everywhere. Closing our doors risks burying that legacy

Luis C. Cordero,

Pinecrest

Boycotts, not bloodshed

Letters to the editor are a wonderful method to espouse one’s feelings on many subjects. The ideas in this section, however, are read and forgotten most quickly. Rarely, if at all, is the government swayed by the printed word.

If we truly wish to grab and hold the attention of the oligarchs who now hold the attention of our wayward government, nationwide boycotts of their products are the only way to proceed. Let’s incapacitate the accounts receivable of these individuals and corporations who wish the government to dominate us.

Marshall Sober,

Aventura