Reader disagrees with statements in previous letter to the editor encouraging unity – Darryl Ferguson

I recently read the letter titled “Set aside political differences” by Ann Gardner. I was surprised that by the second paragraph she begins criticizing government policies simply because she disagrees with them.

She mentions “mass firings” leading to higher prices. Those price hikes came from the Biden administration’s inability to control its own spending. Inflation rose nearly 20 percent during the Biden years, with almost 10 percent in one year alone.

She also claims the administration was “gutted” and that “important agencies were understaffed” and people died. She cites the Texas flood as an example. Investigations showed the National Weather Service provided the best information available at the time. The tragedy occurred because the flooding hit after evacuations began, not because of NWS staffing. This was a rare and unpredictable weather pattern, not a staffing failure.

She then points to the Environmental Protection Agency. She argues it was “significantly diminished.” It was not. Lee Zedin was appointed EPA secretary and changed or ended environmental policies he believed were harming the country or wasting money, such as subsidies for solar farms and windmills. Many solar farms that received billions in taxpayer subsidies have since gone bankrupt.

She also cites a Milwaukee case where two children had lead poisoning, blaming it on a supposed reduction of 20,000 EPA workers “earlier this year.” That is inaccurate. The EPA workforce was reduced in January 2025 from 16,155 employees to 12,448, mostly through retirements and separations. President Trump had not even taken office until Jan. 20. The reduction saved $748.2 million.

Ms. Gardner also writes that families are afraid to go to stores, schools, churches or clinics because Homeland Security will “take innocent people away.” Illegal aliens are not “innocent.” As the name states, they are here illegally. Enforcement has always prioritized removing serious and violent offenders first. Kristi Noem and former Homeland Security official Tom Homan have pushed for that approach.

The issue is that sanctuary cities often refuse to cooperate. Homan has repeatedly said that if sanctuary cities worked with ICE, agents would not have to conduct roundups where nonviolent illegal immigrants sometimes get caught in the net. But all illegal aliens break the law the moment they cross the border.

Under Biden, almost 2 million illegal entrants came into the country while he claimed the border was secure and that they were thoroughly vetted. We know that is not true. One recent example is the man who shot two National Guard troops, killing one and injuring the other.

Ms. Gardner should not open a letter calling for unity while spreading misinformation and belittling those with different viewpoints. That contradiction is exactly why we have such political division. One side demands agreement and labels the other divisive or belligerent for disagreeing. I am neither. I simply want the real facts, not someone else’s “facts” that don’t match reality.

Darryl Ferguson