1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

I’m writing in outrage over the recent ICE raid at a San Diego restaurant — during peak dinner hours, in full military-style gear, in front of stunned diners and terrified workers. This wasn’t a security operation. It was an act of fear-based political theater — targeted not at lawbreakers, but at line cooks and dishwashers. Let me be clear: I am not asking for more “humane” enforcement. I am asking you to recognize that these raids are morally wrong, economically incoherent, and corrosive to the very idea of America as a shared project. Immigration is not a problem. It’s a measure of our strength. People risk everything to come here not because we are failing, but because we still represent — however imperfectly — the idea that life can get better. We should be proud of that. We should build on it. We should make it easier, not harder, for people to come, work, contribute, and belong. And if we are serious about addressing undocumented immigration, we already know the only approach that is both ethical and effective: hold employers accountable. Fine those who hire without authorization. Enforce the law at the point of power — not at the point of survival. But that’s not what happens. Instead, we raid kitchens and farms. We traumatize families. We make a spectacle of cruelty — all while leaving the businesses that created the incentive untouched. It’s a cowardly and dishonest form of enforcement. It’s also wildly inefficient. It doesn’t avoid the economic consequences of fair labor policy — it just hides them behind fear and violence. The uncomfortable truth is this: we benefit from underpaid immigrant labor. We rely on it to keep prices low across agriculture, hospitality, caregiving, and construction. Americans don’t want those jobs at those wages — and without immigrant labor, many of those industries would shrink or disappear. That’s the real policy context. But rather than reckon with it honestly, we punish the workers and protect the system that exploits them. That is not justice. That is not order. And it’s certainly not strength. The American project has always been about building something bigger than ourselves — across difference, across origin, across time. That project lives or dies by how we treat those who seek to join it. Immigration is not a weakness to be managed. It is a strength to be embraced. That’s why we must stop the raids, end the spectacle, and start building a system that reflects who we claim to be. Because people are not the problem. People are the project.