The recent letter from a former Escanaba resident regarding “Operation Metro Surge” in Minnesota provides a heart-wrenching narrative, but it conveniently omits the “why” behind this necessary federal response. While the author uses emotional appeals to frame the community as being under siege, we must look at the facts from a perspective of law and order.

For years, sanctuary policies in the Twin Cities have allowed individuals with no legal right to be here, including those with criminal records, to remain in neighborhoods, often at the expense of citizen safety. Operation Metro Surge is not a random act of cruelty; it is the inevitable result of local leaders failing their duty to uphold the law. When local mayors and governors refuse to cooperate with federal authorities, they create the very vacuum that federal agents must eventually fill.

The author mentions the tragic loss of life during these operations but fails to mention the context. Federal agents are in Minnesota to perform a difficult and dangerous job. In high-stakes enforcement environments. When people choose to interfere with, block, or physically confront officers during an arrest, they create a volatile situation where split-second decisions must be made. It is a harsh reality, but if those individuals had remained at home and allowed law and order to proceed through the proper legal channels, they would be alive today. To blame agents for defending themselves or reacting to interference is a total misrepresentation of the truth.

Furthermore, the appeal to “neighborly love” and Lutheran values is deeply misplaced. True responsibility means respecting the laws that hold a community together. You cannot have a neighborhood without a border, and you cannot have justice if you treat those who broke the law and those who followed it as one and the same. Law-abiding, naturalized citizens who spent years doing things the right way are the ones truly insulted by the lawlessness being protected in Minnesota.

Most people of Escanaba value showing up for one another, but we also value common sense. We should not be lectured by those who have overseen the decline of their own city’s safety and now want us to believe a one-sided story. Minnesota is facing a crisis of its own making, and the solution isn’t to stop enforcing the law … it’s to finally start.