Readers Write: ICE’s lack of transparency, Trump’s mental state, elections, mining

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

•••

At Minnesotans for Open Government (MNOG), we hold that governments can only be held accountable if the public is able to gain access to information about their activities. Our view is shaped by President James Madison’s well-known comment that a popular government without the ability to gain access to information is a prologue to either a tragedy or a farce, or both.

But there has been a jarring inability to access information about the events of “Operation Metro Surge” and federal law enforcement actions in Minnesota. Journalists and citizens are finding it difficult to learn who is being arrested and why. The identities of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are shielded. And in some instances, access to immigration courtrooms is being denied.

Federal law can compound some of these problems, by granting a broad law enforcement “exemption” to federal open records laws. This stands in contrast to the Minnesota Data Practices Act, which was passed with bipartisan support by the Minnesota Legislature over 40 years ago. The Data Practices Act ensures that records on arrests and other consequential law enforcement actions remain public — even during the course of ongoing investigations. Since then, Minnesotans have used this access to stay informed about law enforcement activities and hold its actors accountable when needed.

We call for a bipartisan collaboration of Minnesota’s congressional delegation to examine how our state laws can be used as a model for making federal law enforcement activities more transparent to the public. This examination should be conducted with the objective of preparing comparable federal legislation. The Minnesota Legislature can also play a role by passing a resolution calling for such changes to federal law.

Without these needed reforms, our ability to stay informed as a republic and hold our government accountable will be a prologue to a tragedy or a farce, or both.

This letter was submitted on behalf of the board of Minnesotans for Open Government.

I know, it’s a very awkward conversation but it needs to happen.

Will someone please tell the president he is no longer a “safe driver”? He needs to relinquish his “driver’s license” before more people (and nations) get killed. If he doesn’t relinquish his license, it needs to be taken from him. Legally, of course. Congress? Hello!

How is it possible? Why are we still allowing this man to drive our national and global cars?

Are we insane, too?

•••

Would the media please do its job and accurately report Trump’s declining mental fitness? In his rambling speech to global leaders in Davos, he confused Greenland with Iceland! Multiple times he said Iceland caused the stock market to plunge when it was his Greenland obsession that caused the downturn. He can’t even remember which country he wants to threaten.

Or perhaps he did mean Iceland? His pick for Iceland ambassador recently made a joke about that nation becoming the 52nd state. That would follow Canada as the 51st state … or would Venezuela be 51, now that Trump has declared himself its acting president?

Imagine if President Joe Biden, or any other leader, had said these things? But most media leaders simply clean up the language and sane-wash the insanity.

There are obvious signs of age-related dementia. Trump falls asleep in meetings and boasts of acing “cognitive tests” that ask, for example, to identify a giraffe or tell time. His speeches meander more than ever and include weird gestures and facial expressions. He’s receiving medical treatments that cause his hand to bruise. He’s seriously unwell, and yet it’s his finger on the nuclear button.

Pamela J. Snopl, Minneapolis

•••

With all the turmoil created by the Trump regime, what really galls me is its extreme self-righteous arrogance regarding nearly all of its actions. There is a saying: “Cherish those who seek the truth; beware of those who claim to have found it.” We could use a good dose of that in our current disagreements.

Wayne Martin, Plymouth

“I have a dream” that one day we will again have a president, et al., whose character has content.

More than ever, we also need qualified candidates with solid characters, relevant experience and leadership skills. Not merely populists with axes to grind. We need strong candidates to vote for, not just as a “no” vote against the opposing candidate.

These days I often recall a speech by movie President Andrew Shepherd in 1995’s “The American President,” “We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them. And whatever your particular problem is, I promise you [populist candidates are] not the least bit interested in solving it. [They’re] interested in two things, and two things only: making you afraid of it and telling you who’s to blame for it.”

Attend your Feb. 3 caucus and support truly qualified candidates who are interested in addressing real issues and solving real problems, not in “shouting at the rain” or whizzing on our leg and telling us it’s raining.

Daniel Patton, Minneapolis

•••

I do sincerely appreciate the assurances from Attorney General Keith Ellison and Secretary of State Steve Simon that there is no legal basis for an attempt by the Trump administration to interfere in the state’s elections and that they would vigorously fight any such action. But the horror-show we’re experiencing in Minnesota provides a very stark picture of just how profoundly we have slid into authoritarianism under Trump 2.0 and the dangers we face in the coming months.

We already saw what Trump was capable of in the events leading up to Jan. 6, 2021. At that point there were still some “adults in the room” who helped to prevent the worst from happening. They are all gone now. Nobody in Trump’s sycophantic and conspiracy theory-driven cabinet, or in the GOP that he controls, will make serious attempts to stop him if he employs the tactics used against Minnesota more broadly in an attempt to alter the outcome of the 2026 midterms.

I sincerely hope that Ellison, Simon and their peers from other states in Trump’s crosshairs maintain their vigilance and courage, because we are all going to need it.

Ted Sherman, St. Paul

Regarding “Congress can restore a predictable pathway for mining projects” (Strib Voices, Jan. 21): This article makes an argument for “responsible” mining in Minnesota. What is not clear is why the authors considered the old process not “responsible.” If there is any mining process of this type anywhere in the world that has demonstrated that it can proceed with no long-term effects on the surrounding environment, then please bring it forward and let’s hear about it. I’m sure the Star Tribune would gladly report on it, and we all would like to read about it.