Opinion | Trump’s ‘Dystopian Deportation Scheme’

To the Editor:

Re “Trump’s Taste for Tyranny Finds a Target,” by Jamelle Bouie (column, May 26):

Thank you, Mr. Bouie, for warning us about Donald Trump’s dystopian deportation scheme. On top of the massive social chaos and moral strife this would cause can be added the economic cost.

The cost of building new camps and capturing, housing, transporting and feeding what Mr. Trump referred to as “probably 15 million and maybe as many as 20 million” (though as Mr. Bouie points out, the actual number of undocumented immigrants is estimated at 10.5 million) could be trillions of dollars. That would include the loss of tax revenues, the cost of the disruption to businesses that need the labor, and the impact on businesses, families, local governments and communities that serve these millions of people. The impact to the deficit, the economy and inflation would be catastrophic.

Voters concerned about today’s prices who are considering voting for Mr. Trump will look back and yearn for the current economy and inflation — as will we all.

Daniel Samakow
Venice, Calif.

To the Editor:

Plans for the Trump Gulag may have unintended consequences. According to the Center for Migration Studies, about 45 percent of U.S. agricultural workers are undocumented immigrants. If these people are suddenly yanked from the work force, in a sector already struggling with labor shortages, there will inevitably be a drastic drop in production and a steep rise in consumer prices.

Gilbert Tauber
New York

To the Editor:

Donald Trump boasts that he will deport up to 20 million immigrants, following the example of President Eisenhower and Operation Wetback.

When we look back on that program, we find that the number of immigrants deported was more than a million, the most ever.

Mr. Trump talks about deporting 15 to 20 times as many, and gives no details whatsoever as to how such an enormous number of people can be moved out of our country.

Realistically speaking, it is simply impossible, but that doesn’t matter. The strongman speaks and the base loves it.

Harvey Glassman
Land O’ Lakes, Fla.

To the Editor:

Thank you for publishing Jacob Heilbrunn’s Opinion guest essay, “Fear a Trump Foreign Policy That’s Effective” (May 28).

Instead of normalizing Donald Trump and obsessing ad nauseam on the presidential election “horse race” and Joe Biden’s age, the news media should focus relentlessly on the likely consequences of another Trump presidency.

In a recent interview with Time magazine, Mr. Trump revealed some of his plans for a second term. Among the chilling highlights: He says he would allow states to monitor women’s pregnancies and prosecute women to enforce anti-abortion laws, end the Justice Department’s insulation from White House interference, consider pardoning all the Jan. 6 insurrectionists, replace career federal civil servants with his political loyalists, staff his administration with 2020 election deniers and use law enforcement to target his critics.

Mr. Trump would try to deport about 11 million undocumented immigrants (which would gut our work force and devastate the U.S. economy) and use the military to do it. He would deploy the National Guard to American cities as he saw fit. He might refuse to come to the aid of an attacked ally in Europe or Asia.

The prospect of another Trump administration should outrage and terrify any patriotic American.

Chris Moser
Stonecrest, Ga.

To the Editor:

Re “Two Weeks Inside Gaza’s Ruined Hospitals” (Opinion video, nytimes.com, May 21):

Thank you for posting the video with Dr. Samer Attar. The main takeaway is: Those most affected by war — on either side — are those most vulnerable who had zero say in the attacks and retaliation, but whose lives are forever changed.

There are no winners in these conflicts. If only those who ordered the attacks could understand that, and that we are all part of the human race and deserve the opportunity to live, thrive, take care of our families and be free to enjoy life.

Without these basic human needs being acknowledged and met, the cowardly attacks and unimaginable suffering of innocent victims will only continue. Why can’t world “leaders” understand that? Maybe they need to watch this video every day until there’s a permanent cease-fire and an agreed-upon plan to help restore shattered lives and homes on both sides, and respect all people.

J. Langford
Dallas

In Florida, Climate Change No More

To the Editor:

Re “Florida Law Is Signed, Curbing Climate Policy” (news article, May 17):

Florida’s new law prohibiting and discouraging efforts to address climate change represent ignorance and foolishness to the extreme, given that Florida is severely affected by climate change.

A Harvard study reported that the quality of Florida drinking water in Miami, which is drawn from the Biscayne Aquifer, is being compromised by climate change, including increasing water from sea level rise as well as increased precipitation from storms. Both of these factors, caused by warming temperatures, will become more intense if the issue of climate change is not addressed.

Additionally, rising sea levels and more intense storms and hurricanes threaten Miami, which is already experiencing increased flooding and will be inundated by rising sea levels in the future.

How a state with so much exposure to climate change can ignore the issue that threatens its very existence is both ironic and incomprehensible.

Ken Lefkowitz
Medford, N.J.

G.O.P. Double Standard

To the Editor:

Re “G.O.P. Calls on Schools to Discipline Protesters” (news article, May 24):

Double standard alert! The G.O.P. is calling for disciplining the college Gaza protesters (who were largely peaceful in their tent encampments). So, why didn’t the Grand Old Party call for disciplining the folks who broke into the Capitol and disrupted Congress on Jan. 6?

To the Editor:

Re “That Baby Took a Ton of Energy” (Science Times, May 21):

The caloric demands of pregnancy are steep — but not all calories are created equal.

While 50 pints of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia ice cream may represent 50,000 calories, it’s a woefully inadequate representation of the real needs of a mother and developing baby over nine months. Ensuring the proper amount of extra calories during pregnancy is only half the battle.

Pregnancy is a marathon. Millions of people worldwide are malnourished. And that cycle of malnutrition starts with pregnancy. Mothers need much more than just calories. They need access to programs that support them during the prenatal and postpartum periods, such as patient-centered health care and counseling, nutrition security and guidance about nutrition needs throughout pregnancy.

Colleen Delaney
New York
The writer is a technical director for U.S. programs at Vitamin Angels.