Letters to the Editor: ICE recruiting should prioritize upholding the Constitution

To the editor: I would find it heartening if the federal government would give every Immigration and Customs Enforcement applicant, and especially new hires, a copy of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights (“ICE is hiring 10,000 agents. Some unexpected people want to join the Trump crackdown,” Aug. 29). New hires would be tested on it, since they are supposed to swear an oath to defend the Constitution and follow the elements set forth therein. Yet many ICE agents, based on the actions we’ve seen this year, have never read it and instead rely on social media for instruction (or worse, our current administration).

I currently carry two copies of the Constitution with me at all times (one to share should someone be interested) and am distressed most people I meet and know have not read it at all, or have not read it since college. This is the founding document of our country, something that theoretically laid out our rights as citizens, and it is being metaphorically shredded as we speak. Let’s not forget, President Trump stated in his first term, “I love the poorly educated.”

Ruth Peebles, Los Angeles

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To the editor: As someone who has conducted background investigations on ICE applicants, I found them to be intelligent — most with college degrees — and qualified for the job. Unfortunately, the thoroughly debased standards for an ICE agent under this administration have opened the door for applicants no one should want but who will be hired. Trump’s vision of ICE, with its emphasis on cruelty, will likely be staffed by gun-toting thugs comprising the fascist military he dreams about. So, here’s my question: When the last immigrant is transported to some far-off country, who then will ICE set its sights on?

Melissa Verdugo, Rancho Palos Verdes