Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.
Immigrants share vision
of American dream
I’m a 20-year-old immigrant brought to the United States at age 2, and a third-year criminal justice student at San Jose State University. Fear that I may not be able to graduate burdens me, generating a lack of motivation and concentration on my studies.
I struggle to find purpose in assignments, like in my human rights class, as I feel human rights don’t apply to immigrant families. My parents moved here chasing the “American dream,” but that dream is not just about a house, two kids and a dog. The true American dream, as Martin Luther King Jr. expressed in his 1963 speech, is about civil rights, economic equality and the end of racism. It’s the dream to live in a country where people are judged solely on their character, not their skin color or immigration status.
As Barack Obama said: “We are not a red or blue America, we are the United States of America.” (2004)
Mariana Servin
San Jose
DOGE cuts are a show
to cover power grab
While it is easy and grabs headlines to attack those who are weak such as some questionable expenses by USAID, it will not make a dent in the federal deficit.
But that isn’t the point of DOGE; this is a power grab. To really make a dent in the budget, start with the big-ticket items like income tax evasion and corporate games. While making billions, companies pay little or no taxes. The problem is that these are not the 90-pound weaklings, and they certainly could defend themselves.
DOGE is a show — I hope everyone is enjoying it because the real action is behind the curtain.
Glenn Stansbury
San Jose
We must look for ways
to resist takeover
The Project 2025 coup is well underway. How I long to gather on the streets with the millions of other Americans who are ready to defend the ideals of liberty and justice for all.
These days, however, I’m not convinced that the powers that be are moved at all by street protests; they couldn’t care less. Trump and his capitalist cronies only care about money and the power it buys. It’s time for us to look for ways to hurt them in the only place where they feel pain — in the pocketbook.
I, for one, will look into how I can move my retirement money out of the market. I may have to face the day when my retirement savings run dry; that’s a risk I’m willing to take.
Jaime Alvarado
San Jose
Nation is facing novel’s
dystopian ‘truth’
Re: “AP barred from Oval Office over gulf name” (Page A2, Feb. 12).
In the book “1984” by George Orwell, Winston Smith works at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting historical records to align with the Party’s current version of events. He alters past records to erase inconvenient truths and fabricate new “facts” that support the Party’s narrative. This process is called “reality control.”
Now we have an Associated Press reporter banned from White House news events because AP refuses to change the body of water known for 400 years as the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” to go along with a Donald Trump executive order. Meanwhile, the Big Tech companies are rolling over for Trump. Google Maps has switched to “Gulf of America.”
We are rewriting reality to match Trump’s fantasy world. We are all Winston Smith now.
William Parks
Palo Alto
U.S. is walking path
of selfishness, greed
Re: “Congress cannot allow end of USAID” (Page A6, Feb. 13).
Related Articles
Letters: Fremont’s homeless camp ban is cruel and misguided
Letters: USAID is a good place to start spending reduction
Letters: Could houseboats be a homelessness solution?
Letters: Cutting NIH funding could kill medical research
Letters: Withdrawing my support for Tesla and Elon Musk
I was reading John Tupper’s letter to the editor on Thursday’s editorial page. After pointing out the obvious immorality of Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s canceling of USAID, which will cause innumerable deaths around the world, he ended his letter with “is this what we now stand for as Americans?”
Unfortunately, the GOP vision of being great again means that we ignore the world’s problems and focus only on our own selfish desires. that look all fuzzy and cozy.”]
I believe this is what America is becoming; this is what we really stand for right now.
Bob Cole
San Jose
Migrants wrestle with
uncertainty and danger
“Minor incident” is how President Donald Trump is justifying his pardons of over 1,500 MAGA supporters, many sentenced for violence and sedition. Included among them are the White nationalist Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.
Meanwhile, Trump has sent 1,500 troops to help secure the United States-Mexican board against illegal immigrants. Trump claims that he is keeping the criminals out. So, according to Trump, he wants to keep out suspected criminals while pardoning the known criminals who stormed the capitol on Jan. 6.
It’s too late to put the J6’ers back in prison, but it’s not too late to grant U.S. citizenship to those who desperately are in need of it because going back to their native countries would mean extreme hardship or even death.
Claire Jacobs
Sunnyvale
