Readers Write: Road construction season, immigration, animal experiments

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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The second Minnesota season has begun. The orange cones and barrels and concrete barricades are up on just about every federal, state, county and city roadway. All motorists are complaining about the delays while traveling to their destinations. But groups we don’t hear enough from are pedestrians, bicyclists and persons with disabilities. Their plight during the construction season goes unnoticed and unheard.

Road construction is not contained in just lanes of traffic, but it includes sidewalks, trails and crosswalks. I have seen sidewalks and crosswalks closed for construction and there are no alternative places for pedestrians and persons with disabilities to walk down or cross the street. They are ignored. What many do not know is that when a sidewalk, trail or crosswalk is closed and part of the work zone, a temporary alternative sidewalk, trail or crosswalk has to be part of the construction project and needs to include all the features that the original sidewalk, trail or crosswalk has, namely ramps.

These alternative crossings also need to be protected from moving traffic and cannot compromise the safety of those using it. But in my travels, I’ve seen crosswalks and sidewalks closed with no alternative sidewalks or crosswalks in place. The USDOT, MnDOT, Public Right of Way Accessibility Guidelines and the ADA all state what is required when a crosswalk is in the work zone or closed because of construction. In fact, MnDOT shows examples of alternative crosswalks in their manual on uniform traffic control and has a publication titled “Pedestrian Accommodations through Work Zones Design Guidance,” that has the specifications needed for the alternative crosswalk. To make matters worse is the fact that when government entities are informed of their failure to follow the law, they simply try to ignore the complaint.

The voices of pedestrians, bicyclists and persons with disabilities need to be heard when it comes to construction season.

Duane Butorac, Eagan

Let’s call her Maria. She’s the day care teacher my son loves most. He cannot leave school before finding her and jumping into her arms as she asks, “Escuchaste hoy, mi amor?”

Maria supports her parents and children back in Venezuela with her day care teacher salary. She loves my son like her own, and as of this month, she legally cannot work in America.

Maria had Temporary Protected Status (TPS), enabling her to live and work in America due to danger in her home country. President Donald Trump canceled this program for 500,000 immigrants, including 350,000 Venezuelans. The Supreme Court upheld this. Overnight, half a million people were told, You can stay in America for now, but you can’t work. You can’t support yourself. You can’t contribute to your community.

And their employers? Our day care was left hurriedly interviewing and replacing five teachers. If our day care isn’t fully staffed, parents can’t go to work. This is detrimental to small businesses and the economy.

If the human suffering is enough to convince you that canceling TPS is cruel and misguided, contact your representatives. U.S. Sens. Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar and your House representatives need to hear that Minnesotans support TPS.

And if human stories aren’t enough, think about small businesses and the struggle to retain quality workers. Think about the irony of people desperately wanting to work, yet being told to sit at home instead. Let that move you to speak up and call your representatives. Let that move you to care.

Zoe Kourajian, New Brighton

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Imagine being a first-time mother, just months from delivering your baby — navigating the expected worries around health, finances and family support. Now imagine being told by the federal government that you must stop working and that you should self-deport “immediately.”

This is not hypothetical. It is the current reality for two teachers at my child’s day care. These individuals — employed, contributing, and caring for young children — are now facing the loss of their livelihoods due to the termination of the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela Parole Program.

The Trump administration’s decision to end this program abruptly disrupts the lives of people who followed a clear, lawful process to live and work in the U.S. The consequences are not abstract. They affect local families, small businesses and the very people who care for our children and keep our communities running.

Too often, immigration debates are treated as distant or theoretical. But the impact of these policies shows up in our neighborhoods, our schools, and our daily routines. Policy choices made in Washington have a direct and immediate effect on the lives of people we know and depend on.

If this administration’s goal is to support working families and strengthen communities, actions like these only serve to undermine that effort.

Alexa Farah, Vadnais Heights

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As has been frequently acknowledged by both the right and the left, our nation’s immigration policy is a mess. On the one side, we don’t want to let just anyone in, and on the other, we are a nation which needs workers. I would propose a simple, partial solution: Anyone who can get and keep a job can stay, as long as they pay Social Security and income taxes and are not arrested for a crime. After doing this for 10 years, they will have earned the right to vote and become a U.S. citizen. I would restrict this to adult persons who have no criminal record.

I freely acknowledge that there are many other situations that a full reform of our immigration policy would need to address. I think this would serve our nation’s needs well, and be a good place to start. I think both Republicans and Democrats should be able to support it.

Peter Stebinger, Minneapolis

In response to the commentary published on June 25 concerning ethical and humane teaching and research with animals at Macalester College, I want to set the record straight (“Our understanding of animals has evolved. Our college curricula should, too”).

Macalester College is recognized as a top college for undergraduate teaching. As the chief academic officer, my priorities are to ensure that students have meaningful educational experiences that prepare them for their next steps, and to support academic freedom for faculty so that they are able to research and teach in ways that align with their expertise.

Macalester College adheres strictly to all relevant federal regulations and well-accepted scientific and ethical standards for the care and use of animals in teaching and research. We use a small number of rodents in teaching with oversight by an ethics committee, which includes a veterinarian. Our faculty give thoughtful consideration to the learning that ethical and humane use of animals provides.

The college respects the academic expertise of our faculty in matters of what to teach. Further, we trust the strategies they use to create significant learning experiences that include the social, ethical and historical contexts of a given topic. While people are entitled to have opinions about the use of animals in science, we affirm our faculty’s academic freedom and do not allow external parties to interfere with or dictate our curriculum.

Lisa Anderson-Levy, St. Paul

The writer is executive vice president and provost at Macalester College.