ICE is now in very active where I live in Danbury Connecticut. They have been reported to wait at school bus stops targeting parents dropping off or picking up their kids.

I’m hoping and praying that I don’t hear of someone getting shot as in Minnesota. To be clear, I don’t condone or support people coming into the U.S. illegally but I also don’t support the tactics and means of enforcement that ICE uses.

Danbury is a very diverse city with about a 30 percent Hispanic population. All that I have had any interaction with, from my barber to auto mechanics, store clerks, restaurant workers etc., are very friendly and appear to be hard-working people. I don’t know which ones may or may not be here illegally, but I personally enjoy the diversity where I live.

Danbury also has many people of other heritages such as Indian, Asian, Middle Eastern, European. In my view people of different cultures living together enhances the community rather than damaging it.

I guess one has to be of a certain mindset to feel that way. Such a mindset certainly does not exist everywhere in my experience. The prevailing mindset which I think goes along with the prevailing political leaning of where I live is important to me, but that doesn’t mean I dislike or reject all people with a different perspective than mine. I’m open to their opinions and learning how and why they have them.

What I’m not open to is racism or bigotry.

As for illegal immigrants taking jobs here being a problem, my view is that the companies that hire them are just as responsible as the immigrants. If such companies were held accountable for such illegal hiring there would be much less illegal immigration because of no jobs being available. Of the jobs they do take, most are jobs legal U.S. citizens do not want because of low wages and hard working conditions.

James D’Elia lives in Danbury.