A friend shared a horrendous story the highlights of which I post here. Like the protagonist, my father was a legal immigrant with green card for many years, but I would hope anyone reading what happened to this man recently would shudder regardless of ...
A friend shared a horrendous story the highlights of which I post here. Like the protagonist, my father was a legal immigrant with green card for many years, but I would hope anyone reading what happened to this man recently would shudder regardless of personal proximity to an immigrant.
The nightmare began with a knock on the door—the man and his wife were sleeping–in a southern city where they had retired. In his 70s—tall, thin, dark brown skin and an accent—he had been in the country for 35 years. He and his American wife have two kids, one a doctor the other a lawyer. Soon after his detainment he was sent to a jail in another city. In this prison he contracted pneumonia and barely survived a stint in the ICU only to be sent back to prison in a room with seven others.
Before I go on, some context.
Beth Schwartzapfel and Anna Flagg reported in The Marshall Project in August, 2026 … “even as Trump’s enforcement upends lives and livelihoods in immigrant communities, the number of people detained and deported falls far short of the president’s goal of deporting 1 million people per year.
“In total, since Trump’s inauguration last year, ICE has detained over 610,000 people — more than the population of Atlanta, Baltimore, Milwaukee or the entire state of Wyoming.”
Back to this unfortunate man who finally had a hearing at the end of September.
My friend wrote: “His crime? He made a mistake on his yearly green card application four years ago. The subsequent three years were correct. So he was sentenced to return to his country of origin. He does have a brother there who will help.”
I interrupt the narrative to point out that we shrug at people in office with far worse “crimes” than once making a mistake on paperwork.
To continue, this is how we treat people we deport.
My friend wrote, “he was taken from the prison in one town to the airport in another wearing prison pajamas and no socks or shoes. He was put in a holding pen with quite a few other men. Hours of no food or water or toilets and he wasn’t able to bring anything that was in his suitcase. On the plane still with no shoes or socks. This is what a law- abiding person with a legal right to be here gets for a ‘mistake’ on an application that no one told him about four years ago.”
The man had “all sorts of legal help as well as his congressman,” wrote my friend. Could his treatment have been worse? I guess. Originally, he was slated to be sent to one of two countries with no connection to him where he didn’t speak the languages.
Is there any rationale or excuse for such inhumane treatment of innocents or any prisoners?
Decades ago, we were in a severe traffic jam outside Orly Airport. The plan was to return our rental car after a glorious vacation and catch a flight home.
After a while our eyes started to tear up and we were coughing so we closed the windows. We were spoiled by the clean air standards that had been adopted in the States and were shocked at how quickly we reacted to the exhaust. France hadn’t yet taken such steps.
This memory haunted me when I read about the administration’s reversal of federal fuel economy standards that may “increase carbon dioxide emissions by roughly 50% and worsen local air pollution,” according to AI.
The rationale is to lower the price of vehicles, a tempting if short-term gain and a big price to pay. It mocks the congestion pricing program NYC implemented to lower pollution and untangle gridlock.
Are you willing to pay a little more for your next car to maintain the goal of fuel efficiency from 50 miles per gallon, which it is now, to 34.9 by 2031?
The reader wrote: “My friend took the lead on creating wonderful things for us to sell (in addition to regular donations), and we advertised heavily about the charity we were fund-raising for, which energized everyone to contribute more because of how relevant it felt.”
They didn’t create a bank account for the event and the friend said he’d deposit the money in his account. The fellow subsequently lost his job and ghosted her for a year when she reached out to get back the money.
The reader concluded with these questions for columnist Kwame Anthony Appiah: “What do I owe my friend and what do I owe everyone who donated? Should I, being fortunate enough to have a well-paying job, suck it up and donate the amount myself? Should I let the friendship die, knowing that he essentially stole from a charitable cause?”
A partial excerpt of Appiah’s advice: “Your compassion for your friend is admirable, but personal misery isn’t an excuse for robbing a charity. Nor should you continue to conceal his misconduct in order to preserve your friendship. This man hasn’t just failed to pay up; he has betrayed everyone who organized the event and trusted him to send the money on, and he has let down everyone who bought something or donated, as well as the cause you were all supporting.”
The top four drawers of the mule chest are faux. The chest opens from the top. The chest holds a ton of clothes.
Tis the season for those who live in small spaces with too many clothes to make the dreaded seasonal changeover. My antique mule chest will hold my summer clothes once I remove them from the closet to make room for the winter things currently inside. I try to give away some clothes on each such occasion but never enough.
Our last moves from a house and large apartment to a small apartment in two months was like taking apart a Russian nesting doll, from bigger to smaller, at high speed. As I mentioned in an April 2019 post, my husband suggested we consider putting some things in storage. I was determined not to do that because I doubted that we’d move to a larger apartment or to a country house anytime soon or ever.
Kousha Navidar, guest host of The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC interviewed New Yorker staff writer David Owen, who had written an article about self-storage. Navidar called the segment “What’s in Your Storage Locker?” The cliff note summary of Owen’s article from AI: It “frames self‑storage as a modern American ritual, parallel to religion, driven by accumulation and the desire to ‘hold’ possessions without using them.” In the interview Owen listed the D reasons for using the storage units: Death, Displacement, Divorce, Downsizing and Delusion that children will want stuff.
A friend uses units to store thousands of books. I never asked if she or her husband visits them. We gave away ours. Ouch. Thank goodness for e-books.
I think the units have their place for short periods as a bridge while waiting for a closing on a house or condo. Otherwise, bite the bullet. It’s no fun to leave behind favorite things. I’m the worst at it. But currently I have enough around that makes me happy and I’m grateful.
In an attempt to follow a news story that doesn’t make my heart sink–hard to do these days–I’ve been weaving in and out of the Meghan/Harry move back to the UK saga on social media—especially the Meghan part.
I wondered if I only saw negative coverage because of some algorithm and checked with AI. I hadn’t been misled. Here’s what it said: “Mainstream British press outlets are overwhelmingly critical or sensationalist regarding Meghan Markle, with virtually no major UK newspaper or tabloid adopting a consistently pro-Meghan stance.”
I could have told her where she dug her hole and why she’s disliked. It’s never a good idea to knock your loved one’s country of origin even if he isn’t a member of the royal family. It can’t be so great on a personal level but to blab about your dislike publicly…ouch.
Mom’s many French friends used to tease her. They’d say they didn’t know who/what she loved more: Her French husband or France. Long after dad died, she returned to France every year for about a month, well into her 80s. If she’d had the energy, she could have met her friends, their children and grandchildren three meals a day. She was American, not always a favorite nationality of citizens of La République française. Her loyalty to their compatriot and country—and upbeat personality–did the trick.
Meghan didn’t have to go as far as mom, but she should have zipped her lip. There are millions of mixed marriages, some religious, others that combine spouses from different countries. My unsolicited advice to them is don’t do what Meghan did. Your thoughts?
