To the Editor:

I feel compelled to reply to Ms. Filkin’s letter to the editor of Jan. 29, 2026 [“I welcome the efforts to get dangerous criminals off of our streets”]. 

The deaths of two American citizens in the streets of Minneapolis over the last few weeks should be a clear signal that ICE is not engaging in “operations to take illegal aliens with heinous criminal histories into custody.” Rather, it is a lawless operation that has harmed many law-abiding citizens exercising First Amendment rights.

Being non-white is a hazard.

In addition, the total lack of due process employed — no judicial search warrants, breaking and entering, kidnapping individuals who show up for appointments as required to advance their citizenship applications —  these actions are absolutely intolerable and bear no relationship to the laws of this country.

I am grateful for all the activism that highlights these travesties and for all those who are representing victims of ICE in the courts.

I question the existence of the illegal criminals Ms. Filkins so fears in her community of Westerlo. In my community and the Greater Capital District, I observe immigrants hard at work, eager to learn English and striving to make better lives for their families. They make our community a better place to live.

Helene Goldberger

Berne