No, I don’t mean when you signed for two, three or four plus years when you joined the military.

I mean when you were taken to a small room, the door closed, a lock placed, and the person walks away. I have.

When I lived in Montana, Missoula County was opening a new jail, and they were seeking volunteers to be locked for 12 hours to test the jail.   I volunteered.

The solid door with a small barred window was opened.  I stepped inside, the door closed, the lock clicked, and the guard left. Here I was for 12 hours;  oh, I knew I would be released if I just asked; I didn’t.

I thought of that when I read of the immigrants and others being locked up in terrible conditions in the Bishop Whipple building in the Twin Cities, as well as other places in this free country. Some never charged with a crime.

The Minnesota Star Tribune tells of a female locked in a small bathroom with three men; a toilet, and a sink with no running water..  Another story of where the room is so crowded, no room to lie down.  And also people locked in a room with overflowing toilets.  And guards seem not to care.  If some do, they are helpless to act alone

We are better than that.  Where is our humanity?

I don’t care what your views on immigrants are, if you are a Republican, a Democrat, Independent, or none, all people must be treat humanely, and that starts here at home.

Some have decried protests in Stevens County against ICE, but we must do our part to make certain people are treated with compassion and empathy.  We profess to be Christian in Stevens County, Minnesota and this country, but too many of us only on Sunday, and some not even then. 

Ted Storck

Morris