To the editor: Columnist George Skelton contends that Sen. Alex Padilla’s disruption of Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem’s press convention was not the time or place to carry this administration accountable for its immigration insurance policies (“Padilla was right to challenge Noem’s right-wing lunacy,” June 16).
For many years, we’ve witnessed the merciless assault of immigration enforcement on our communities. So when precisely is the time or place?
I grew up with Padilla in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley. I’ve witnessed his righteous battle for immigrant rights, and it has served as an inspiration to my very own civic and philanthropic endeavors.
No individual, not to mention a United States senator, ought to be silenced for desirous to ask their authorities to do higher. We should not waver in our name for justice for our immigrant communities on this precarious second.
Jorge Quezada, Los Angeles
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To the editor: The following time Gov. Gavin Newsom is in L.A. giving a press convention, columnist Anita Chabria ought to behave precisely as Padilla did (“The gaslighting of Alex Padilla is already in full swing on the right,” June 13). She ought to be dressed casually with no press credential seen, enter uninvited, then begin strolling towards the rostrum at a brisk tempo whereas shouting that she has a query for the governor. When initially blocked by safety personnel, she ought to proceed to push ahead.
She will write her subsequent column on the response of Newsom’s bodyguards, which, I predict, will mirror that of Noem’s folks.
At a time when political polarization is off the charts and our legislators and leaders are being shot at and executed, one can hardly fault legislation enforcement for being cautious and proactive. There’s a proper method and a incorrect solution to strategy a public determine, and Padilla embarrassed himself and California by selecting the latter.
Glenn Toth, Playa del Rey