Compassion to go around

Nearly every day I read articles in the Pioneer Press describing ICE activities as “massive, chaotic or aggressive,” and perhaps they are, sometimes even inappropriately so, but why are there no articles reminding readers that such “massive and aggressive action” is the necessary reaction, primarily to massive and aggressive illegal immigration orchestrated by the Biden administration, and secondarily to the massive, aggressive and often violent protests against ICE taking place in the Twin Cities?

Had not Biden illegally disregarded long-standing immigration law, millions of unvetted illegal immigrants, including thousands of violent criminals, terrorists and gang members, would not be in the U.S., Renee Good would not be dead and hundreds of documented violent crimes, perpetrated by some of those here illegally, would not have happened.

Obviously from my comments, I am a conservative, but do people really think that conservatives have no compassion for the large majority of those immigrants who are simply people seeking a new and better life? Of course we have compassion. President Trump stated Wednesday and has stated previously, that he, as do most conservatives, “has a heart” for such people, indicating that exceptions to deportation, allowed in immigration law, may be considered for some people here illegally.

Also obviously, those non-violent protestors who are not paid outside professional protestors, have great compassion for those being detained, arrested or deported, but where is their compassion for the hundreds of thousands of people assaulted, raped, murdered, killed from heat and cold, or trafficked enroute to the U.S.? Where is the compassion for the many people who have been, or will be, victimized by violent immigrants? Where is the compassion for the people who have lost jobs to immigrants, or for those seeking legal immigration who are bypassed for, or delayed in, the process of legal immigration? Where is the recognition that border control is necessary for the very existence of the US and for any country?

Richard M. Powell, Owatonna

 

To induce chaos?

I am wondering about whether there is a false flag set-up being instituted at the ongoing ICE protests.

It’s been said that there are professional agitators within the crowds to want to induce chaos and anarchy. Local, state and federal law enforcement would intervene with violence to put down protests should it move from peaceful assembly to rioting, chaos and destruction of property.

On the other hand, I wouldn’t put it past the Trump administration to embed its own paid professionals in these crowds to induce chaos and anarchy with the goal of invoking the Insurrection Act. The FBI, DEA, ATF and other federal agencies have been known to embed people in terrorist, cartel and other criminal groups. Militarily these tactics are used to create false-flag conditions. This possibility does exist.

Donald Trump has been itching to pull the trigger to invoke Insurrection Act, especially if  these professional agitators managed to cause the crowds to cross a line and start widespread violence, destruction, vandalism and damage.

It’s strange that the federal actions by the ICE, Border Patrol and others are seemingly trying to get the crowds beyond the threshold to cause Insurrection kinds of activities. It feels like a powder keg waiting for someone to light the fuse.

In this day and age, it seems that we cannot trust anybody. I am looking forward to the mid-terms to change the direction that our federal government has been heading. I am disappointed at our current Congress inability restrain the overreach that our Trump administration has demonstrated domestically over and over again. And now Trump is overreaching internationally, which threatens world peace, world trade and goodwill.

I hope with a changed Congress, our elected officials hopefully would act promptly to preserve our Constitution and our democracy. Enough already.

Barry Siebert, St. Paul

 

It may be hard to see right now, but …

A letter for my grandchildren:

I saw photographs of you and your school chums at St. Paul Central marching to protest ICE the other morning. Hundreds of you with creative sign boards, goofy hats, smiling faces of all colors and origins. Teenagers on the move. I am so proud of you. And at the same time, so sad and heartbroken at the world we are handing you.

This is not the America we once knew. It is not what our forefathers had in mind. Your parents scraped and borrowed to get you through school, to teach you to work hard, to care, to be honest, to love and appreciate your family, your neighbors, your country. Their parents did too. Your grandparents and great grandparents taught school, started businesses, created advertising, flew in the Pacific, invented things, raised dairy cows, worked on ore-freighters, ran for city council and applied their skills and intellect to improve the lives of their families, their country, their world.

That’s not what you’re seeing on your TV screens or I-phones today. You’re witnessing a dark period in American history — one filled with greed and hate and selfishness. One where the leader insults citizens with foul language and rude gestures, where government officials order and condone violence, where they dress up in makeup and jewelry for TV appearances, rationalize their crimes, and lie. And sadly, many support this behavior.

It is easy to get depressed about these events. Easy to give up, or to ignore what’s happening, or to rationalize it, or to excuse it. But it is not hopeless. You and your friends are coming along, full of hope, energy, caring and empathy. It may be hard to see right now, but your time will come.

Jim Force, Wausau

 

A Fair proposal …

A special welcome to Paul Hendrickson as new manager of the Washington County Fair.

Our former company had the pleasure of working with the great folks at both the Washington County and Ramsey County Fairs for many years prior to Covid. Now would be the time to bring forth the much talked about subject or merging the former Ramsey County Fair with the Washington County Fair.

I would guess that there are hundreds of food growers and exhibitors in Ramsey County that would like the opportunity to be involved in this great summertime event especially from the East Side of Saint Paul.

I like the sound of The Washington / Ramsey County Fair!

Gary Murphy, Vadnais Heights

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Friends of the St. Paul Public Library on Wednesday announced finalists for the 2026 Minnesota Book Awards, presented this year by sponsor Education Minnesota.

The finalists (* denotes titles from Minnesota presses):

Children’s Literature, sponsored by Beret Publishing:

“All the Stars in the Sky” by Art Coulson; illustrated by Winona Nelson (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers/Simon & Schuster)
“Dear Acorn (Love, Oak)” by Joyce Sidman; illustrated by Melissa Sweet (Clarion Books/HarperCollins)
“Revolutions Are Made of Love: The Story of James Boggs and Grace Lee Boggs” by Mélina Mangal and Sun Yung Shin; illustrated by Leslie Barlow (Carolrhoda Books/Lerner Publishing)*
“Saturday Morning at the Shop” by Keenan Jones; illustrated by Ken Daley (Beach Lane Books/Simon & Schuster)

General Nonfiction

“Enchanted Plants: A Treasury of Botanical Folklore and Magic” by Varla Ventura (Weiser Books/Red Wheel Weiser)
“Gentlemen of the Woods: Manhood, Myth, and the American Lumberjack” by Willa Hammitt Brown (University of Minnesota Press)*
“It’s Their World: Teens, Screens, and the Science of Adolescence” by Erin Walsh (Free Spirit Publishing)
“Sea of Grass: The Conquest, Ruin, and Redemption of Nature on the American Prairie” by David Hage and Josephine Marcotty (Random House/Penguin Random House)

Genre Fiction, sponsored by Macalester College

“Apostle’s Cove” by William Kent Krueger (Atria Books/Simon & Schuster)
“Broken Fields” by Marcie Rendon (Soho Press/Penguin Random House)
“The Codebreaker’s Daughter” by Amy Lynn Green (Bethany House Publishers/Baker Publishing Group)
“The Quiet Librarian” by Allen Eskens (Mulholland Books/Little, Brown and Company/Hachette Book Group)

Memoir/Creative Nonfiction

“Beard: A Memoir of a Marriage” by Kelly Foster Lundquist (Eerdmans/Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)
“The Book of Kin” by Jennifer Eli Bowen (Milkweed Editions)*
“The Lonely Veteran’s Guide to Companionship by Bronson Lemer (University of Wisconsin Press)
“What Doesn’t Kill Me Makes Me Weirder and Harder to Relate To: A Memoir” by Mary Lucia (University of Minnesota Press)*

Middle-Grade Literature, sponsored by Education Minnesota:

“The House on Rondo by Debra J. Stone (University of Minnesota Press)*
“Scattergood” by H.M. Bouwman (Neal Porter Books/Holiday House)
“Weird Sad and Silent” by Alison McGhee (Rocky Pond Books/Penguin Random House)
“What Happened Then” by Erin Soderberg Downing (Scholastic Press)

Emilie Buchwald Award for Minnesota Nonfiction, sponsored by Annette and John Whaley:

“Enmity and Empathy: Japanese Americans in Minnesota During World War II by Ka F. Wong (Minnesota Historical Society Press)*
“Held Over: Harold and Maude at The Westgate Theater” by John Gaspard (self-published)
“Her Place in the Woods: The Life of Helen Hoover” by David Hakensen (University of Minnesota Press)*
“The War at Home: Minnesota During the Great War, 1914 – 1920” by Greg Gaut (Minnesota Historical Society Press)*

Novel/Short Story, sponsored by Minnesota Humanities Center

“Ashes to Ashes” by Thomas Maltman (Soho Press/Penguin Random House)
“If the Dead Belong Here” by Carson Faust (Viking/Penguin Random House)
“Lucky Tomorrow: Stories” by Deborah Jiang-Stein (University of Minnesota Press)*
“The Many Mothers of Dolores Moore” by Anika Fajardo (Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster)

Poetry, sponsored by Wellington Management

“The Becoming Game” by Paula Cisewski (Hanging Loose Press)
“Enter” by Jim Moore (Graywolf Press)*
“I Imagine I Been Science Fiction Always” by Douglas Kearney (Wave Books)
“Terminal Maladies” by Okwudili Nebeolisa (Autumn House Press)

Young Adult Literature

“Alice in Evermoor” by Karen Huss (self-published)
“The Flip Side” by Jason Walz (Rocky Pond Books/Penguin Random House)
“Seven for a Secret” by Mary E. Roach (Disney Hyperion/Penguin Random House)
“Worthy of Trust: That Word Honor Book 1” by Erin Makela (Beaver’s Pond Press)*

Winners will be announced at the Minnesota Book Awards ceremony May 6 at Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul. The Kay Sexton and Hognander awards will also be presented at the event. Tickets are $27 available at thefriends.org/mnba.

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St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her met with the White House border czar Wednesday and said she looks “forward to seeing concrete next steps as” he “meets with local officials to de-escalate the situation in St. Paul.”

President Donald Trump announced he was placing Tom Homan in charge of the mission in Minnesota and Homan is reporting directly to the White House. He replaced Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino in the Twin Cities after federal officers fatally shot Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday.

Her said she met with Homan and his team Wednesday “to discuss the ongoing ICE surge in Minnesota. I appreciated the opportunity to share with them the harm this surge is having in our city. I reinforced the importance of immigrants and refugees to the fabric of our community.

“Changing leadership and opening lines of communication with leaders in Minnesota are promising steps toward building trust, ensuring accountability to federal actions, and finding a meaningful resolution to end this surge,” she said in a statement.

Homan met with Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Tuesday.

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In his meeting Walz “reiterated Minnesota’s priorities: impartial investigations into the Minneapolis shootings involving federal agents, a swift, significant reduction in the number of federal forces in Minnesota, and an end to the campaign of retribution against Minnesota,” the governor’s office announced.

By SAM METZ and JULIA FRANKEL, Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — For Palestinians in Gaza, the Rafah border crossing to Egypt is their gateway to the world. But since Israel seized it in May 2024, it has been largely shut.

Now Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the crossing will reopen soon, as the U.S.-brokered Israel-Hamas ceasefire plan moves into its second phase.

That raises hopes for thousands of war-wounded Palestinians seeking travel abroad for medical care, and for tens of thousands of people outside Gaza seeking to return home.

But they face tight controls. Under conditions Netanyahu stipulates, only dozens of Palestinians will be allowed through the crossing each day, and no goods will cross for now. All other Gaza border crossings are with Israel.

Here’s what to know.

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Crossing might open in the coming days

An Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with policy said the Rafah crossing would open in the coming days. A person familiar with discussions on the reopening said they had been told it could come as early as Thursday.

Ali Shaath, newly appointed to head the Palestinian administrative committee governing Gaza’s daily affairs, said on Jan. 22 that the crossing would “open next week in both directions.”

“Opening Rafah signals Gaza is no longer closed to the future and to the world,” he said in a video the White House posted on X last week.

The U.S. has pressed Israel and Hamas to enter the ceasefire’s second phase. The remains of the final hostage in Gaza were recovered this week, completing a key part of the first phase.

Shaath and the new Palestinian committee remain in Cairo, without Israeli authorization to enter Gaza through Rafah.

Netanyahu says people to cross, not goods

Preparations are underway to let a limited number of medical evacuees leave Gaza first. That’s a significant shift from before the war, when most exited through Israel, according to World Health Organization data.

There are conflicting reports on how many people can cross each day. The Israeli official said 50 Palestinians will be allowed in and 50 out daily. The person familiar with discussions said 50 would be allowed in daily and 150 out.

That means a long wait for many of the estimated 20,000 sick and wounded that the territory’s health ministry says need treatment outside Gaza. At a rate of 50 evacuations a day, it would take more than a year for everyone to leave.

In the past, those prioritized for evacuation have been mostly children, cancer patients and people suffering from physical trauma. Most received treatment in Egypt.

Medical evacuees typically exit Gaza with escorts. The person familiar with the discussions said two escorts likely would be allowed for each evacuee.

Meanwhile, at least 30,000 Palestinians have registered with the Palestinian Embassy in Cairo for return to Gaza, according to an embassy official, speaking on condition of anonymity because details of the reopening remain under discussion.

Israel will control who enters and leaves

A complex web of countries and institutions will oversee the Rafah crossing, including Egypt, the Palestinian Authority and a European Union mission, but Israel has control over who enters or exits.

Egypt will provide Israel with a list of names daily to vet and decide on, the Israeli official said.

Under the ceasefire terms, Israel’s military controls the area between the Rafah crossing and the zone where most Palestinians live. COGAT, Israel’s military body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, will bus Palestinians to and from the crossing, the official said.

There will be no Israeli soldiers at the crossing, the official said, but Palestinians exiting and entering would undergo Israeli security screening inside Gaza. In the past, such screenings have been conducted by Israeli soldiers and private U.S. contractors.

“Anyone entering or exiting undergoes our inspection, a full inspection,” Netanyahu said Tuesday.

Officers from the EU Border Assistance Mission and the Palestinian Authority will run the crossing. Plainclothes officers with the Palestinian Authority will stamp passports, as they did during a brief ceasefire at the start of 2025 and before Hamas wrested control of Gaza in 2007, Palestinian officials told the AP.

Netanyahu seemed to acknowledge that members of Palestinian factions that historically have governed Gaza may play a role, noting that the majority of bureaucrats have a history of working for Hamas or the Palestinian Authority.

How Rafah functioned before the war

Even before the war, Palestinians faced heavy restrictions.

In 2022, the United Nations recorded more than 133,000 entries and 144,000 exits through Rafah, though many involved the same people crossing multiple times. Egyptian authorities allowed imports on 150 days of the year, and more than 32,000 trucks of goods entered.

Restrictions have tracked the region’s politics. Egypt, alongside Israel, imposed a blockade after Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007. It reopened the crossing after Egypt’s 2011 revolution but closed it in 2013 after the military ousted President Mohammed Morsi, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist movement from which Hamas emerged.

Egypt gradually allowed the Rafah crossing to reopen in the years that followed, but the on-and-off restrictions led to a massive tunnel economy that sprung up beneath it. Tunnels served as an economic lifeline for Gaza and a conduit for weapons and cash, according to Israeli and Egyptian officials. Hamas collected tens of millions of dollars a month in taxes and customs on goods passing through the crossing.

Other details remain unclear

It is not clear when trucks will be allowed to pass through the Rafah crossing, what Palestinians will be permitted to bring and for how long daily entries and exits will be capped at or below 200.

That’s a big uncertainty for humanitarian organizations seeking to further surge aid into devastated Gaza, where groups have long reported vast shortages of medical supplies, fuel and other essential needs.

Netanyahu said his focus is on disarming Hamas, a challenging part of the ceasefire’s second phase, and destroying its remaining tunnels. He said there would be no reconstruction in Gaza without demilitarization, a stance that could make Israel’s control over the Rafah crossing a key point of leverage.

Associated Press writer Samy Magdy contributed from Cairo.