Letters: Things to keep in mind after the election

Las Cruces Sun-News
A rush of voters attended an early-voting site at the Doña Ana County Government Center on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018. Early-voting turnout was stronger than usual for the mid-term election.

Things to keep in mind after election

As I write this, the morning of November 6th, the polls are open for the last day of the election cycle. By this time tomorrow, a lot of results will be known. And by this time next week I may have found that some of the finest people I know – honest, moral, altruistic people – will have voted differently than I did.

How will that affect our relationship? Not at all. We will sing together at church, we will work on the causes we like, we will continue to be friends. If the subject of voting comes up, I will ask those friends, respectfully, “Really? Why did you vote that way?” and will listen carefully to their answers. If asked, I will respond with my own thoughts, as rationally as I can make them.

I do not like our current president, and many of his actions and policies I find despicable. But a lot of the people who support the man, or at least his party, are really great folks. Let’s all keep that in mind as this election cycle plays out, and remember one of life’s basic truths: “It’s never as good as you hope, and it’s never as bad as you fear.”

Robin Hastings

Las Cruces

President not telling truth about caravan

Can we please stop listening to the uninformed, fear-mongering president of the United States who claims that the crowd of Honduran refugees seeking safety in the United States because of unbearable living conditions are somehow being encouraged/sponsored by the Democratic Party? A “caravan” implies by definition that people are driving or being driven. These 4,000 people are walking. They're walking and carrying nothing but a backpack.

It's 1,700 miles from the Guatamalan/Mexico border to Laredo, Texas; over 2,000 miles to El Paso; roughly the equivalent of walking from Van Horn, Texas to Washington, DC.

Also, please do a Google search on MS-13 gang members. Notice that in the TV and print pictures of the people in the “caravan” that none of people are peppered with the tattoos that all MS-13 members must have in order to join. The caravan people are not dangerous criminals. Could a handful be dangerous? Sure, but they'll be sorted out by the Border Patrol.

The president wants us to believe that the people in the caravan present a clear and present danger to the United States; this is 180 degrees from the truth. These people want the same things that we in America treasure, the good stuff. There are jobs in America that aren't filled because no one in the communities will do the work; it's always been that way in our country.

If someone walks 1,700 miles and knocks on our door, claims they've left an oppressive, dangerous and life-threatening situation and asks for a chance to enter our country, I believe we should listen. Our current immigration laws allow for that process.

John Randall

Las Cruces