ICE arrests should be wake up call

To the editor:

The reactions to two recent ICE arrests should serve as a wakeup call to us all.

Arrests of both Jorge Elieser Gonzalez Ocha, a grocery worker of Iowa City, and, Dr. Ian Roberts, the Des Moines Public School Superintendent, reflect how intensely polarized perspectives impact our ability to organize community response to important issues.

Initial conclusions, built upon piecemeal details, have thwarted a thoughtful comprehension of both cases.

Anytime we simplify someone’s life into a two-dimensional story – they did that; therefore, they must be this – we fail ourselves, our communities, and our ability to contribute toward a more humane future.

Stop. Expect. Think. Have empathy. Reflect. Wake up. 

Stop. We are succumbing to the vile destruction of our trust in each other, in the systems of justice. 
Expect. If indeed either man violated immigration policy, we should insist that due process guide resolution. 

Think. Explosive, surgically intense ICE arrests inflame our ignorance of the convoluted U.S. immigration system and any understanding gets distorted by the “noise”.

Have empathy. The world is complex. Anyone who journeys from a distant homeland to live and work in our country very likely has a much more complex story than news sound bites capture. If there is violation of policy, resolution should involve a process based on transparent and whole truths. 

Reflect. When we simplify any one individual’s life and allow quick conclusions, fed by external interests, how easily does that filter seep into our subconscious perceptions of our own community, of our neighbors? How easily do we lose grip of our own convictions of what is right and needed in our community?

Wake up. Without self-checking awareness, we are at risk of having polarized reactions, as these two ICE incidents demonstrate, infect our capacity to address similarly important issues within our own communities.