Dear Editor,

The tactic at the runup to the midterms for many Republicans was to call their opponents names: Talafreako, Dumbicrats, Marxists, Communists, radical leftists, radical lunatics, etc. In debate, this is called an “ad hominem” argument, where someone attacks an opponent's character, motive, background, or personal traits instead of addressing the substance of their argument.

To me, it showed that they didn’t have any arguments of substance so they resorted to name calling. Trump did this all the time and will probably continue it.

This time, it didn’t work. Latinos saw their cousins, their parents, their siblings arrested and deported. They saw this as the logical conclusion of the Steven Miller ICE quota system. Texas was the prime example. Trump insisted that Texas gerrymander to create five new districts that were supposedly favorable for Republicans. They lost four of the five. Trump squeezed out John Cornyn, a loyal Trumpite, in favor of Ken Paxton, who then tied himself to these deportations. He lost “bigly” to Talarico.

Democrats also won the governorship and many congressional districts. Many districts in Texas are 70% Latino.

 ICE claimed they were deporting the worst of the worst. Instead, they deported the plumber, the housekeeper, the construction worker, the farm hand, etc.   Whole construction crews were decimated. The economy of many small towns tanked.

The image I still carry in my mind is of the landscape worker in LA who was chased, tackled, punched, and deported. Yes, he was undocumented, but he had three citizen sons who were all US Marines, and he was a law-abiding individual. Add this to the asylum seekers going to their hearings, following the rules, yet deported before they can even make their case.

This week, Trump squeezed out Susie Wiles as his Chief of Staff, blaming her for his tremendous rebuke by the electorate, instead of internalizing the fact that his tariffs, the war on Iran, his devotion to Netanyahu and Putin, and his corruption were his blunders alone.

Tonight I watched the “60 Minutes” interview with Trump in which he seemed to soften his position on deportations, saying maybe it was “too tough.” He even mused that some (many) of the people they have deported aren’t the worst of the worst, but actually hard-working people who make the economy go and pay taxes. Republican talking points for years prohibit “amnesty” for the 10-14 million undocumented in this country, i.e. many of these same people. What Trump said would fly in the face of this position.

And at the same time, he installed Steven Miller as his new Chief of Staff, who is the architect of most of the hardline immigration tactics that turned so many Latinos away. Maybe it’s just a politician talking out of both sides of his mouth, trying to appease two conflicting constituencies. I am inclined to believe his actions in the next few months, rather than his words. 

Bill Thibedeau

Gilpin County