Letters to the Editor

Homeland Insecurity

Last week we warned [Beachcomber online op-ed] that Long Beach had been falsely targeted and publicly smeared by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which had published an online “non-compliant sanctuary city” list with zero transparency, zero due process and zero regard for fact. Long Beach wasn’t alone. Jurisdictions across the country – rural and urban, conservative and progressive – found themselves branded “sanctuary havens” based on fiction, political spite, or outright clerical incompetence.

Following intense public backlash, legal threats and a wave of op-eds like ours published from coast to coast, DHS has quietly scrubbed the list from its website. Gone. No press release. No retraction. Just digital disappearance, as if the damage hadn’t already been done.

But make no mistake: this wasn’t an act of correction – it was an act of cover-up. DHS pulled the plug not to protect the truth, but to protect itself from accountability.

In the days following publication of the online Beachcomber op-ed, sheriffs and city officials from red and blue states came out swinging. The National Sheriffs’ Association publicly condemned the list, calling it “inaccurate, inflammatory and completely lacking in transparency.” Shawano County, Wisc., was included on the list for being a “Second Amendment Sanctuary” – a designation that has absolutely nothing to do with immigration. Huntington Beach proudly anti-sanctuary in its own ordinances – was wrongly accused of being “non-compliant.” The list was a legal and factual farce.

Closer to home, Long Beach City Manager Tom Modica swiftly responded to DHS’s unfounded accusation: “We received no communication from DHS prior to this listing. Long Beach complies with all applicable laws. We are seeking immediate retraction and clarification.”

Instead of a retraction, DHS tried to pretend the whole thing never happened. But the record remains. And so does the danger.

Let us not forget that this blacklist wasn’t just an embarrassing policy misstep – it was a signal. A threat. Under the Trump administration’s executive orders, DHS has been empowered to deploy masked federal agents into cities it labels “non-compliant.” We’ve seen this before – in Portland, in Chicago and in immigrant communities across the country, where due process gives way to detainment, surveillance and fear.

What happens when a federal agency invents a list, posts it online without warning, then uses it to justify unconstitutional actions? What happens when that list falsely includes your city – and then vanishes without explanation?

We should all be alarmed, because the list may be gone, but the mindset that produced it is alive and well. It’s the same mindset that uses immigration enforcement as a political weapon. That treats the Constitution like an obstacle. That expects obedience, not partnership, from local law enforcement.

This updated op-ed is not just a follow-up – it’s a red flag.

Long Beach stood up. So did dozens of other wrongly accused jurisdictions. But the fight is far from over. DHS has shown its hand. It will lie, it will smear and it will retreat only when caught.

We must continue to hold it accountable – not just when it posts a hit list, but when it acts like one.

Stephen Downing

Please do not believe your lying eyes as the fake news media try to tell you this a peaceful demonstration in L.A.

Federal ICE agents that were doing their job arresting illegals with criminal records were assaulted and attacked. Our do nothing, gas lighting governor and inept mayor again did not respond to protect the agents as well as the citizens of L.A. President Trump – to stop the assault with the authority of the Constitution – sent in the National Guard, contrary to the Newsom rhetoric.

As violence persisted and anti- ICE protestors rage across L.A., Police Chief Jim McDonnell admitted their force was overwhelmed but vowed to uphold the law in protecting the ICE agents.

Those persons who advocate a one-world government, the likes of George Soros, know the way to destroy a society is to dismantle law and order.

And those persons who are not aware, many of the disruptive rioters are paid; this is their job.

We live in a great country, quit voting for those who want to take away your freedom and destroy this country.

Judy Davidson

Something Positive

Is it June gloom, or did Hell just freeze over? I actually have something nice to say about Long Beach city government. Wait, don’t get too excited – not the entire city government, just my District 3.

It all began with a letter I received from the city about four months ago concerning imminent construction at the intersection of 15th Street and Ximeno Avenue, near where I live. Reading between the lines, I began to wonder whether the city meant to eliminate the vital left turn from 15th onto Ximeno that I and so many in my neighborhood rely on to access grocery stores and essential services. I called the city and discovered that my fears were well-founded: the city had intended to eliminate the left turn by building a median at the intersection, right across 15th Street.

I notified my neighbors; one of them, Lisa, wrote a flier and petition, which she hand-distributed throughout the neighborhood. We had a private meeting with Councilor Kristina Duggan and her chief of staff, Nick Kaspar, followed by the councilor holding a public, town-hall style meeting at a neighborhood elementary school, where we watched a presentation and aired our grievances.

And guess what? As it turned out, they actually listened! The day after the big meeting, I found out that construction on the intersection was paused and Nick Kaspar promised over the phone that he would notify me of any changes in plans. And he did. Yesterday, as promised, I received a call from him updating the developments to the city’s plans for the intersection. They had altered their median design to include a break at 15th Street, allowing us to keep the vital left turn onto Ximeno, which is what we wanted.

During this chaotic time in which we are living, when the state of our country’s democracy is in question, it is comforting to see democracy at work in our own backyard. The people spoke; the government listened and acted accordingly.

Thank you, Councilor Kristina Duggan, Chief of Staff Nick Kaspar and the District 3 Council Office, for hearing us, taking our concerns seriously and working to find a solution. Democracy begins at home and this is living proof that sometimes it still can work.

Merry Colvin