Dear Editor:
Rich Suarez calls ICE arrests “abductions.” That is not moral clarity; it is Orwellian newspeak. Abductions are unlawful seizures. ICE officers enforcing federal immigration law conduct arrests subject to due process, judicial review, and legal challenge. Words matter, particularly when rhetoric seeks to portray law enforcement as inherently sinister.
This illustrates the folly of suicidal empathy. Compassion is virtuous when balanced with judgment. It becomes self-destructive when concern for immigration offenders eclipses concern for communities bearing the consequences. Compassion without boundaries is virtue-signaling masquerading as enlightenment.
Mr. Suarez also criticizes masked ICE agents. Masks are worn because officers have faced doxxing, harassment, and threats extending to their families. Enforcement tactics deserve scrutiny, but portraying reasonable personal-security precautions as sinister ignores legitimate risks. Efforts to expose and intimidate law enforcement carry an unmistakable Bolshevik flavor.
Public reporting on Morris County apprehensions warrants greater seriousness. Documented offenses and immigration violations include assault, domestic-violence assault, shoplifting, unlawful entry or reentry, prior removal, and outstanding removal orders. Warrants are not convictions, and individual circumstances matter. Nevertheless, these cases require lawful investigation, adjudication, and, where appropriate, removal, not theatrical histrionics.
Here is the question Mr. Suarez avoids: Is he comfortable with criminal aliens residing in Parsippany and throughout Morris County? Nobody claims every undocumented immigrant is dangerous. But residents reasonably expect authorities to identify and remove noncitizens who violate immigration laws, particularly those responsible for additional criminal offenses. Public safety should not be sacrificed to ideological sentimentality.
His invocation of “democracy” is equally peculiar. Since when does enforcing duly enacted immigration law threaten democracy? Democratic institutions establish laws so they can be enforced, subject to constitutional protections. Democracy is not strengthened when enforcement becomes politically unacceptable merely because activists oppose its consequences.
Certainly, criticize questionable tactics. Demand professionalism, transparency, accountability, and due process. Those safeguards distinguish legitimate enforcement from arbitrary government power. But labeling lawful arrests “abductions” substitutes emotional manipulation for reasoned argument. It attempts to delegitimize enforcement itself rather than address specific misconduct.
Parsippany residents deserve both compassion and security. Immigration policy must recognize human dignity without disregarding legal obligations or community safety. Empathy for those facing deportation need not require indifference toward victims of crime, taxpayers, or law-abiding immigrants who followed established procedures.
The rule of law, public safety, and compassion are not competing principles. A responsible society must uphold all three. Mr. Suarez would better serve the discussion by addressing that balance rather than inflaming it with misleading terminology.
Thomas Zvolensky
Budd Lake (formerly of Parsippany)
