Nausea swept through me this morning when I saw the Associated Press photo of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem cutely posed before a jail block of half-naked prisoners, heads shaved bald, their fate unknown (March 27). Even the U.S. government has acknowledged that the recent mass deportations of Venezuelan “worst of the worst” violent criminals include many people who have no criminal records at all. There are no charges filed against them, no identities released, no legal protection.

The photo is despicable. It is a visual reminder of starving prisoners in Nazi concentration camps. Never a day goes by without the Trump administration alluding to the fact that these men are Hispanic, brown skinned, Spanish speaking, exceedingly poor for the most part, and all illegally deported to a rancid prison in El Salvador, paid for with our tax dollars. This is racism at its worst.

We are being taught to fear and hate those who fail to march lockstep with the billionaires and their smug meanness. Instead of joining in with this madness, I intend to retain my status trying to be a good American, standing by the Constitution and the centuries-old statement: this is a nation of the people, by the people and for the people. Otherwise, one day we may hear the hobnailed click of brownshirt boots tramping down our streets.

Jeffrey Burke
Isle Au Haut