When the School Bus Comes, They Take the Parents

School started this week in Connecticut. For most families, that means backpacks, new teachers, first-day pictures and the familiar morning rush to get children out the door and onto the school bus.

But for some Connecticut families, the school bus became the beginning of a nightmare.

There are reports that ICE agents have been conducting enforcement operations in Danbury, Bridgeport and Stamford, arresting people in neighborhoods and around school bus stops. Approximately 50 people have reportedly been arrested in Danbury alone, with additional arrests reported in Stamford and Bridgeport.

What I find particularly disturbing are reports that ICE agents waited until children boarded their school buses before taking their parents into custody.

Think about what that means. A mother or father puts their child on the bus, watches it pull away, and then is taken away by federal agents. That is devastating for the parent, but imagine being the child. You go to school expecting your mother or father to be home when you return, only to find an empty house and no understanding of where they are, whether they are safe, or whether you will ever see them again.

And before anyone tells me these people must be dangerous criminals, the evidence simply does not support that characterization. ICE has not provided a detailed accounting of those arrested or demonstrated that this operation was primarily targeting hardened or violent criminals. The reporting instead describes a broad immigration-enforcement operation involving workers, day laborers, parents and people whose primary violation may be their immigration status.

Some may have criminal records. We don't know. But "undocumented immigrant" and "hardened criminal" are not synonymous, and pretending they are is both intellectually dishonest and deeply dangerous.

Then I think about my great-grandparents who were Jewish residents of Germany who were arrested, abducted or simply disappeared in the middle of the night by the Nazi’s. They were not criminals. They were people who were stripped of their rights and their humanity by a government that had convinced much of its population that Jewish people were somehow less deserving. They were ultimately sent away and exterminated in the concentration camps. 

We all know the poem. We have read the books. We know where unchecked dehumanization can lead.

And yet I watch people being taken away from their families, sometimes after putting their children on a school bus, while others cheer because they believe these people somehow deserve it. I find this disturbing and immoral.

I am not arguing that we cannot enforce our immigration laws. Of course we can. I am arguing that how we enforce those laws matters. A person who violates immigration law does not stop being a human being. Someone who lacks legal immigration status is not garbage to be discarded or an inconvenience to be removed. They are a person who works, pays rent, raises children, sends those children to school and tries to build a better life for their family.

And when the government takes away someone's liberty, we should demand transparency, due process and accountability, regardless of whether we agree with that person's immigration status.

What troubles me most is the willingness of some people to accept cruelty when it is directed at people they believe don't belong. That is not what makes America great.

America is great when the government is constrained by law. It is great when we defend due process even for people with whom we disagree. It is great when we recognize that every human being deserves dignity. And it is certainly not made great by making children afraid that their parents may disappear while they are at school.

My family learned what can happen when governments convince ordinary people that certain human beings are less deserving of rights than everyone else.

I refuse to forget that lesson.

I refuse to celebrate the disappearance of another human being simply because that person was born somewhere else.

This isn't about whether you support or oppose immigration. It is about what kind of country we choose to be, and what we are willing to tolerate in our name.

For me, watching parents disappear after putting their children on a school bus is not something to celebrate.  It is something to condemn.

Either we all have constitutional rights or none of us have constitutional rights

Americas, including liberals, have constitutional rights. Either we are a nation that abides by the Constitution for everyone, or our 250-year experiment in self-government is over.

Americans, including liberals, have a First Amendment right to assemble, protest, and record government agents performing their duties in public in order to hold them accountable.

Americans, including liberals, have a Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. That right exists, among other reasons, to protect against tyranny. It does not disappear because someone is politically inconvenient.

Americans, including liberals, have a Fourth Amendment right to be secure in their homes and on their persons. Government agents may not enter a home or seize a person without a warrant issued by a judge and supported by probable cause.

Americans have a Fifth Amendment right to due process. The government cannot deprive someone of life, liberty, or property without fair legal proceedings. That means government agents cannot execute people in the street for protesting, for carrying a firearm, or for being suspected of a crime.

If government agents are in imminent danger, they may use lethal force. But in both Minnesota cases, there was no immediate threat that justified killing. What occurred was not law enforcement — it was a violation of constitutional rights. And once the government is allowed to kill people without due process, none of our rights are secure.

This is not about party. If Biden or Obama had sent agents into Florida or Texas and citizens were killed under the same circumstances, I would be just as outraged. Political affiliation does not excuse killing.

Even if you believe immigration policy has failed, that does not justify executing people in the street. Even the “worst of the worst” are entitled to constitutional protections. ICE is not a judge. ICE is not a jury. If a crime was committed, arrest the person, charge them, and prove it in court.

If you believe government agents should be allowed to kill, abduct, and deny due process, then we have a fundamental and irreconcilable disagreement. This is not about hardened criminals. This is about human beings coming here seeking a better life — the same thing generations of Americans’ families once did.

And if this is really about “law and order,” why are the same voices that once said “don’t tread on me” now applauding when others are being tread upon? Where are the defenders of the Second Amendment when someone is killed in broad daylight while lawfully carrying and filming? If this were really about compliance, then why didnt you wear a mask?

At this point, I’m signing off. Online arguments don’t change minds. They only harden positions and escalate rhetoric. I’m going to spend today with my family, my dogs, the fire, and the snow — because nothing I say here is going to stop this, and peace matters more than another comment thread.

Herz out

Schools Reputation directly impacts Home Value

 It’s that time again when everyone comes out and bashes the Stamford Public Schools and its budget. Here’s a question I genuinely wish more people would ask before trashing our schools and our school budget:

What do you think this does to the value of our homes?

Strong schools are one of the single biggest drivers of home values. When a community supports its schools, invests in them, and talks about them with pride, families want to move there. Demand goes up. Home values rise. Everyone benefits.

When we constantly tear down our schools, complain about every dollar, and paint a picture of dysfunction, what message are we sending?

To young families deciding where to live?

To professionals relocating?

To people looking to invest in Stamford long-term?

Why would anyone choose to move here if all they see online is negativity about our schools?

There’s a reason our wealthier neighboring towns attract so many young families. They promote their schools. They support capital improvements. They understand that investing in education today pays dividends in property values for decades.

And here’s the part that really matters:

When people — especially young people — read these comments, they’re not just forming an opinion about a budget line. They’re forming an opinion about whether this is a community worth joining.

We can debate priorities. We should ask tough questions. That’s healthy.

But endlessly trashing our schools doesn’t punish “the system.”

It hurts our kids.

It hurts our reputation.

And ultimately, it hurts the value of every home in this city.

Supporting strong schools isn’t just good education policy.

It’s smart community and economic policy.