Georgians will feel impact of mass deportations
If President-elect Donald Trump goes through with his threat of mass deportations, Georgia, with its burgeoning number of immigrants (“Georgia’s immigrant population soars,” AJC, Nov. 28), will feel the impact. As a former public schoolteacher, I’m especially concerned about the impact mass deportations will have on students and their families. In mixed-status families, in particular, the potential for a student to be dropped off at school in the morning only to find out after school that his or her parents have been detained and are in the process of being deported is high. Where will they go? Who will take care of them?
What’s worse is that schools are designated as “sensitive locations” and are mostly off-limits to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. That designation is under threat and might go away under a second Trump presidency. Educators need to prepare for the renewed specter of family separation and the possible presence of ICE on campus.
CATHY AMANTI, PH.D., DECATUR
Electoral College gives every American a voice
The Electoral College is a healthy solution for our constitutional and federal republic.
To win the Electoral College, a presidential candidate must win 270 or more votes. This reflects the majority of votes by the states. Thus, to become president of the United States, candidates must build coalitions across states.
In other words, it is state representation. That’s no trivial detail. After all, it was the states that ratified the U.S. Constitution. The same Constitution created the Executive Office of the President. Additionally, federalism plays an essential role in distributing power, and the Electoral College is a bastion of federalism. This check and balance helps mitigate “mobocracy.”
Therefore, the benefit of the Electoral College is that presidential candidates must focus their efforts beyond dense population centers (i.e., megacities like New York and Los Angeles). Consequently, the Electoral College better represents our republic.
In short, the Electoral College remains the champion.
MICHAEL DALE HELM, CHATSWORTH
