Ayotte, no Merrimack ICE detention center
Gov. Ayotte,
I’m writing to urge you to use all the powers of your elected office, as well as all your political capital, to keep an ICE detention center out of Merrimack. Having sworn to “support the constitution of the United States,” aiding and abetting ICE (an organization that consistently mocks and defies constitutional rights) would be a betrayal of your oath, and a betrayal of the people of NH.
As a former school teacher and a family therapist of 45 years, I’m alarmed by how ICE-perpetrated violence is currently affecting the emotional and cognitive development of our children. They see armed gunmen near their schools, churches and homes. They see other children being terrorized on TV. They know that other children are being separated from their parents. And they even see murder at the hands of ICE. Evidence-based research demonstrates that when children and young people witness ongoing and unlawful violence, it creates lasting fear and levels of anxiety which interfere with learning, and inhibit healthy social development.
Our children learn about their constitutional rights in school, but now every day they see people’s rights betrayed with impunity by their government. Their parents and teachers have no answers for them. Government-sponsored unlawful disregard for our protected rights teaches children to distrust our government and lose respect for our laws in general. We are now at serious risk of raising a generation of traumatized and cynical young people who will not become the good citizens we need for a thriving democracy.
Governor Ayotte, please honor your solemn oath to protect our constitutional rights. Please, protect our democracy. Please, protect our children and their families. Keep an ICE detention center out of Merrimack!