4 A
❘
WEDNESDAY EDITION
❘ OCTOBER 18, 2017
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
Opinion
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
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L ETTERS
Tomorrow night, come share
your thoughts about DACA
It’s no small irony that as
the world has embraced the
overwhelming force of global-
ization that began as far back
as 1994 with the implementa-
tion of the North American
Free
Trade
Agreement
(NAFTA), many middle-class
Americans have begun to feel
more cornered as mechaniza-
tion, international competition
and outsourcing have resulted
in vanishing jobs and stagnat-
ed wages.
The result is an underlying
frustration, and at times out-
right anger, aimed at placing
blame.
It’s no surprise that some of
that frustration has been aimed
at one particular group known
as Dreamers — members of
Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals. These individuals
arrived in the U.S. before age
16 with the help of undocu-
mented illegal immigrants —
in most cases their parents.
The DACA program, estab-
lished in 2012, makes those
individuals eligible for a work
permit, renewable every two
requests for individuals eligi-
ble for DACA status ended,
sparking sharp debate of the
administration’s decision to
rescind the executive order
issued by President Obama
and force a slow-moving
From the Editor’s Desk
N ED H ICKSON
years, and not subject to the
same deportation rules as other
undocumented immigrants. It
also requires them to be in
school or have a high school
degree, a record free of serious
misdemeanors or felonies, or
be honorably discharged from
the U.S. armed forces.
Most recent estimates sug-
gest 800,000 DACA recipients
have been approved since
2012 out of an estimated 1.7
million applicants (Pew
Research Center).
As of Oct. 5, renewal
Congress to introduce legisla-
tion in its place.
While many agree that com-
prehensive
immigration
reform is needed at the
Congressional level, in the
meantime as many as 1,400
DACA recipients a day are
expected to lose their status.
What makes this topic par-
ticularly difficult is that many
Americans, while they may
want serious immigration
reform, don’t agree with
deporting these individuals or
separating families — with 58
percent wanting to keep the
DACA program (American
Enterprise Institute).
This tug-of-war on the cur-
rent fabric of America stems
from a basic belief that our
nation’s roots stem from a
diverse soil.
So how do we address the
DACA question constructive-
ly?
Tomorrow night (Oct. 19) at
City Lights Cinemas, we will
be holding a community dis-
cussion addressing that ques-
tion beginning at 7 p.m. (See
page A3) Questions will be
drawn randomly from the
audience, and can be dropped
off here at Siuslaw News, or
brought tomorrow night.
There will be a panel and audi-
ence discussion with the hope
of walking away with a better
understanding of the issue and
each other’s points of view.
I hope you’ll join us and the
community in a discussion of
where to go from here with
DACA.
LETTERS
R EGULATION ISN ’ T ANSWER
TO GUN VIOLENCE
Regarding Bill Durst’s “Support
Ammo Regulation” (Oct. 11), approxi-
mately half of all gun owners target
shoot.
There are approximately four times
as many gun owners as hunters.
No one I know who target shoots has
any intention of killing anything.
Regulating drugs has not solved the
drug problem; it would not work with
ammunition either.
A firearm is no more lethal than any
number of other household items. It is
the evil heart that murders.
One cannot legislate evil from the
human heart.
—Ian Eales
Florence
N ATIONAL A NTHEM
AND OUR FLAG
It seems to me that President Trump’s
divisive tweets scorning NFL owners
and players for kneeling down or lock-
ing arms when our National Anthem is
being played — along with more tweets
— are uninformed as usual.
It all started with Colin Kaepernick’s
kneeling down during the playing of the
National Anthem at a 49ers game in
protest of racial inequality. Trump did-
n’t blow his tweet trumpet until differ-
ent black NFL players around the
league knelt down in support of
Kaepernick — prompting Trump to
tweet about NFL owners needing to fire
players (all black) who engaged in the
protest, and how fans should boycott
games for the disrespect of our flag.
There is no argument in playing the
National Anthem, America the
Beautiful, Stars and Stripes for Ever or
our military songs like “Caisson,”
“Anchors Away” or the “Wild Blue
Yonder.”
These are songs that express our love
of country and our military.
Now let us step back in time.
I think it was the second game of the
1918 World Series, between the Boston
Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs, that our
National Anthem was played at the sev-
enth-inning stretch.
It seemed that people liked it and
were singing along so it continued
through the series.
Fast forward to today. I have no idea
when the anthem was once again played
at baseball games, or in any other pro-
fessional football or basketball game. I
believe that the anthem used to be
played before players went onto the
field.
My understanding is that it wasn’t
until after 9/11 that the Department of
Defense began paying for color guards,
halftime displays of military jets flying
overhead and large flags covering the
playing field during regular games at
halftime — and specifically the Super
Bowl — as a way to increase patriotism
and recruitment for the armed forces.
— Win Jolley
Florence
D RAIN THE SWAMP ,
CREATE A CESSPOOL
Did Donald Trump break environ-
mental laws when he turned the
“swamp” into a cesspool?
The contamination seems to be seep-
ing into every area of our government
and the smell is so bad it has been noted
throughout the world.
—Karen Mahoney
Florence
TO THE
P OLICY
E DITOR
The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the editor
as part of a community discussion of issues on the
local, state and national level.
Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten or
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space available and the volume of letters received.
Libelous, argumentative and anonymous letters
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editor.
P OLITICAL /E LECTION L ETTERS :
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Letters must 1) Not be a part of letter-writing
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Ensure any information about a candidate is accu-
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Candidates themselves may not use the letters to
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As with all letters and advertising content, the
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general manager and editor, reserves the right to
reject any letter that doesn’t follow the above crite-
ria.
Send letters to:
nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com
WHERE TO WRITE
Pres. Donald Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments:
202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, Ore. 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line:
503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office
Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office
Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753/FAX: 202-
228-3997
541-465-6750
www.merkley.senate.gov
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio
( 4 th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416
541-269-2609
541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
State Sen. Arnie Roblan
( Dist. 5 )
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email: Sen.ArnieRoblan@
state.or.us
State Rep. Caddy
McKeown
( Dist. 9 )
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email: rep.caddymckeown
@state.or.us
West Lane County
Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email:
Jay.Bozievich@
co.lane.or.us