Dear Editor:
Although I grew up and have lived for most of my long life in rural America, there are things about rural Americans themselves I still have trouble understanding.
For example, Page County, where I have lived for almost a decade, is full of Christian churches. Yet, when ICE was in the county recently and arrested more than a dozen productive members of our community, some of whom have been here for years, the absence of compassion from people who profess to be Christians, as seen throughout social media, was shocking.
Whatever happened to the biblical injunction to “welcome the stranger”? Is this how Jesus would have treated people whose only “crime” is seeking a better life? Would Jesus tear families apart and terrorize communities? Are Christians happy about their growing national reputation for heartless cruelty?
We’ve come a long way from “they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”
I haven’t been a practicing Catholic for many years, but I am a great fan of the first American pope, Leo XIV. As someone who spent most of his priesthood in the Third World, he has a unique perspective on the basic humanity of immigrants, and has been a consistent critic of the federal government’s deportation policy, which he has described as “inhumane.” He truly expresses the message of Jesus, in regard to loving our neighbors and having compassion on “the least of these.”
It is no secret that our current representative in Congress, Republican Ben Cline, is an enthusiastic supporter of ICE and the federal policy toward immigrants. I think ICE needs serious reform, and to be held accountable for its murders of U.S. citizens and for the record number of deaths in ICE detention facilities.
So I will be not be voting for Ben Cline this year. It’s time to end the cruelty, and return America to truly Christian values.
Mike Hasty ~ Luray, Va.
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All life is precious. I can’t blame rural America. What is going on, is not just here in Page, but across the world. It is total disregard for one another. We supposedly live in a county that is Democratic. AI and social media are not helping make us kinder/gentler people. People hide behind their faith, their heritage, their politics, their greed and their prejudices. I vote with the best intensions for people who will change things up, but know that, that will not happen in my lifetime. Find something beautiful that makes you laugh or smile today and every day.
Mike, while your point is well taken, you simply refuse to acknowledge reality. Borders and laws exist so we can delineate where bad ideas stop and good ideas start. If you want to come to this country, do it the legal and mind you, ethical way. Over staying a visa or sneaking across the border bc you can puts you unfairly ahead of everyone who is waiting in line. Nowhere is Jesus’s teachings does he recommend to lie, cheat and steal your way to a batter life. Lie about asylum seeking, cheat others who are waiting in line and doing it the right way, and steal from the American taxpayer in the form of public education and public services all while being paid under the table. No, I do not think Jesus would be very sympathetic to illegal aliens who are justly removed from a country they have no legal, moral, or ethical excuse to be in.
Jesus always placed a heavy burden of choice and consequence directly on the individual. The illegals cheated to get here. Then cheated thereafter every day. You people whine about being kinder and gentler? There’s nothing more violent and demeaning than Islam. Islam is a diabolical, blasphemous, parody of the Christian religion yet you are scared to agree, why? Because the Koran teaches muslims to kill you over criticism and disbelief.
Jeff,
I’m afraid you’re the one who is denying reality. If you are arguing for due process, I would heartily agree with you. But you’re not. The policy you are defending is mostly characterized by the lack of due process, as multiple judges have found. People are arrested following the rules, when they show up for immigration hearings. People with green cards are arrested. If you’re a parent of a sailor on the USS Lincoln and you’re arrested, DHS’s response is “too bad.” It is, in fact, the lack of due process and the failure to consider individual circumstances in these mass arrests that I most object to, and is the source of the “inhumane” cruelty that the pope decries.
If you were as concerned about the lies of Justice Department lawyers that numerous judges have cited as you are by “lying asylum seekers,” I would take your position more seriously. But your priorities are sadly misplaced.
Mike, like most liberals, you completely moved the goal post and changed your argument when you had nothing of substance to say. I’m not arguing due process. You brought that up. I’m arguing that Jesus wouldn’t be sympathetic to people who lie, cheat and steal their way into a better life.
If you want to argue due process, let’s do it. Due process is specifically afforded in criminal trials. Removal of someone from the country is not a criminal procedure, it’s a civil procedure. So while there are certain due processes protected for civil trials, it is not nearly the same concept used in criminal trials. Additionally, removal from the county is not a criminal sentence, it’s the result of a civil trial. Would you be comfortable if we jailed illegal aliens for breaking our law, or do you want them to simply be returned to their country of origin? You libs absolutely refuse to acknowledge law and order. You simply want your feelings to guide the laws. That’s not how it works. Stop using anecdotes to back up your arguments. People who report to their immigration hearings who are then deported by ICE is not nearly the norm. It happens and it happens most likely bc the alien has done something to prompt the detention and deportation outside of being here illegally.
How I wish we all could stop attacking one another. In this 275th year celebration, I remain proud to be an American but am mindful that America has committed atrocities as well. Native Americans had their land stolen and were marched into “reservations” thousands of miles from their homes. There was a time the Irish weren’t welcome. People of Japanese descent were interred during WWII. Vietnam was another stain on the reputation on of the “land of the free”. I’m just saying politics and making money have taken us off the path once intended by the founders.
Jeff,
Once again, it’s you who are denying reality. Due process includes the entire process of following immigration law. It’s a system that’s broken, and there was an opportunity for serious reform in the last year of the Biden administration, but it was scuttled by Trump because he wanted immigration as a campaign issue.
You take no responsibility for the basic injustice of the immigration system, for the murders of US citizens, for the American foreign policy that caused so much immigration in the first place, for the unnecessary cruelty of the present system, for the multiple lies of the Justice Department, nor for the record number of deaths in ICE custody. You show neither compassion nor mercy for the victims of this tragedy. Your blatant hypocrisy is way too typical of conservative “Christians.” I don’t think we have anything more to say to each other.
Excellent point about Biden’s reform proposal that they refused to pass because it gave Dump something to take to his rallies. But we can’t mention Dump. That would be “TDS.”
So Biden didn’t get reform done and that’s Trump’s fault? And you libs refuse to acknowledge that it wasn’t a reform bill. It’s was a funding bill that Trump proved was not required. You’re propagandized and refuse to acknowledge it. You probably believed in the 6ft rule too.
Actually, it is Trump’s fault. James Lankford, Republican from Oklahoma, had co-sponsored a bill to address immigration reform. Republicans were instructed by Trump not to pass any such legislation, which then failed. Like the deficit, national debt, Social Security reform–all of these topics needed to remain issues that could not be solved–to keep some of the electorate excited for conservatives. Here’s hoping Dems can avoid a screw up like in 2024 and 2016, when the only candidates who could lose to Trump were put up as candidate.
So why didn’t Biden get it done? Somehow that’s Trumps fault? That’s the TDS. Because Biden didn’t do something, you blame Trump. And no, I do not have sympathy for criminals who blatantly and deliberately breaking our immigration laws. You somehow are making the claim that Christians should defend criminals. Sorry, that’s not worldly Christian’s’ job. That’s actually the job Jesus. Nowhere does Christianity say I should be sympathetic to law breakers. And you again, move the goal post. No, I don’t think ICE should kill America citizens. Unlike you though, I can rationally also say that Americans shouldn’t interfere in their dangerous job. You ignore that. You’re a liberal who lives in fantasy land of no borders, no punishment, and no consequences.
So ANY criticism of Trump is “TDS.” From the side that went ballistic over PRESIDENT Biden eating an ice cream cone on a boardwalk in Delaware and PRESIDENT Obama wearing a tan suit while using Grey Poupon mustard (a week long “analysis” by Sean Insanity on TOX over the latter). So, yeah, tell us all about “derangement syndromes.”
Paula. We didn’t steal their land. They are squatters from Siberia. No law or title to anything.
https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/the-1st-americans-were-not-who-we-thought-they-were&sa=U&sqi=2&ved=2ahUKEwiIvMv0osOWAxUAKlkFHaq5Bx4QFnoECB8QAQ&usg=AOvVaw2tk7GKxFKjZBlKrAAJMXVh
Enter the United States of America illegally and you are subject to the ramifications of breaking Federal law.
Mr Hasty I assume you identify as a Mr, the problem with the illegals is they broke the law by being in this country undocumented, then since they are here they are draining our resources that is paid for by the American taxpayer public schools,welfare intended for Americans, jobs, medical etc while sending the the money back to their family’s and bring them to the U.S while bringing crime on a unprecedented level murdering American citizens and the only reason you and the rest of the dumbocrats support illegals is to change the voting maps by changing the census counting so you are prioritizing illegals over American citizens just to gain power and during this whole time your party has been hijacked by socialist, so in essence your party of dumbocrats was eaten by its own and you no longer have a voice which ironically the illegal immigration that you support has diminished your own vote . So keep up the good work dismantling your party .
Paula D. Here’s one for you. An I Damian woman sentenced to death by the IRGC, for being “an enemy of God. Note that women convicted to death are raped first to prevent them from going to heaven.
https://nypost.com/2026/08/28/world-news/iranian-mother-sentenced-to-death-simply-for-snapping-photos-of-protest-fire/?utm_campaign=iphone_nyp&preferred_app=nypost&utm_source=pasteboard_app
It’s ironic that some commenters here support a man who is arguably the most corrupt and dishonest president in American history, who has bilked his gullible followers for over a billion with his cryptocurrency scheme, and extorted billions more from shadowy foreign potentates, yet they are outraged by the lies and cheating of immigrants. The putrid stench of hypocrisy is nearly overwhelming.
Mr Hasty where were your comments about the corrupt Clinton’s and Obama’s I don’t seem to have ever heard you comment on them about corruption and as far as your so called lies on immigration you are very incorrect and I can give you a factual story of my sister whom had terminal cancer and only received her deceased husband’s pension and when her cancer became very bad she applied for food stamps and was denied cause she received $20 to much income while in the booth beside her was a family that needed a interpreter and received over $1200 in benefits and drove away in 2 vehicles that cost over $75000 so Mr Hasty I dare you say that illegal immigration is a lie when you do nothing but defend you own corrupt and liberal party.
Hasty. What Chinese communist troll farm do you work for?
Hasty, what do you think of this?
https://nypost.com/2026/08/29/us-news/dsa-leader-sold-luxe-nyc-triplex-for-nearly-2-5-million-used-profits-to-buy-pad-in-brooklyn/?utm_campaign=iphone_nyp&preferred_app=nypost&utm_source=pasteboard_app
Bruce, you probably don’t read much. I wrote several blogs over the past few decades that criticized both Clinton and Obama for their corporate connections. My truck was vandalized when I lived in New England because it had an “Impeach Obama” bumper sticker. As for your anecdote, you know nothing about the circumstances of the Latino family who got benefits, or whether they are citizens. But you conservatives are always too quick to judge others. And you Trumpers are wrong about the idea I don’t want immigration laws enforced. I do, but I want them enforced with respect for the individual dignity of the immigrant, and the love that Jesus said is the whole of the law. You people are defending what Pope Leo calls an “inhumane” system. You support unnecessary cruelty—not to mention murder. Jesus must be embarrassed to be associated with you.
Mike, you are a progressive Democrat not afraid of calling out the corporate and PAC-addicted ways of the establishment Reagan Democrats. Bravo. Republicans are incapable of that kind of thought process. They’d vote for Jeffrey Dahmer or Timothy McVeigh as long as an (R) follows their name. Every damn time.
Your party hasn’t held an actual primary for over a decade. You voted for a woman who never won a primary vote and somehow, the right only votes for their party. You’re propagandized to the highest level.
Robert Sanford, look, a squirrel!
Carrying a Hasty.
Get ready Mr Hasty, Vance-Rubio 2028
And get ready for Democrats taking back the Senate and House this November and investigations into the entire MAGA criminal cabal, from Dump and Sofa Loren and Marco Polo and including the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025.
Dave, you’re so propagandized. You’re right. Dems should win and they should impeach Trump for this war and for the Epstein files. Guess what? They won’t. They want this war and their donors are in the files. You dems still believe your party is moral and ethical yet they haven’t held a presidential primary in over a decade and they almost ran a man with obvious dementia and stage 4 cancer and you would have voted for him. Please stop acting like you have the moral high ground bc you vote democrat. It’s an absurd argument.
Jeff, I am not a conditioned, “propagandized” Virginia voter. I voted for George W. Bush in 2000 and Youngkin in 2021, mainly because 1) I did not trust Gore’s running mate in 2000, and 2) Youngkin’s opponent in 2021 ran a terrible campaign.
I am no fan of Jeffries and Schumer and the corporate millions and PAC-addicted Reagan Democrats in Congress. But I will vote blue no matter who. Because this administration needs guardrails…before he/they (Heritage Foundation and other anti-Democracy, pro-Autocracy groups) absolutely destroys the country and the planet.
Both sides of Congress and the Supreme Court, not to mention every Federal agency, are mafioso protectors of Dump and P2025. Dump talked about the Biden DOJ being “weaponized” against him; an utter joke (and pure projection) when Biden’s AG was a Federalist Society member who slow walked, or downright stalled, investigations into January 6 and Dump’s hoarding of classified documents in his bathroom. Before you accuse me of total “indoctrination,” answer me one question, and be honest. What if Hillary Clinton had inspired her voters to come to DC in January 2017 saying it “will be wild,” and “fight like hell” at the Capitol to overturn the results of the 2016 election? And the voters erected a gallows of Joe Biden, as the J6 storm troopers die for Pence? I’ll be waiting for your answer. And no deflecting this time, please.
If we’re advocating for compassion and open borders and ignoring laws, why are we living in constant surveillance i.e. Flock cameras, security cameras, speed cameras etc…
Get ready Dave, Vance-Rubio Rubio 2028
We will sure need Flock cameras to keep up with the DEMONcrats and their paid agitators and feral voters. Many who come to small news sites like this out of the reach of Flock technology but not mine.
It was “paid agitators” who stormed the US Capitol, alright. But it wasn’t the mystical “Antifa” or the super villain “SOROS.” It was the wife of the longest SCOTUS justice, “Stephen.” Keep on gulping the FlavorAde, folks.