To the Journal editor:

Thank you, state Rep. Sara Cambensy, D-Marquette, for your thoughtful and well-written guest op-ed piece in a recent Mining Journal explaining your support for Michigan Senate Bill 1197 regarding the Line 5 tunnel issue.

This is an example of using information, articulating reason and demonstrating a willingness to standup against a political party’s majority opinion to get something done.

We can only hope congressional officials will exhibit a similar propensity in the national immigration debate. President Trump and Congress need to come up with a plan, together. May there be a robust debate and timely action.

However, some elected officials are so partisan that blind hatred and need for power eradicate any hope of displaying reasoned and thoughtful incremental actions and compromise.

Recently I spent two hours with a friend discussing our political climate and specifically the state of our nation under President Trump’s presidency so far.

She admitted that she hates the president so much that she cannot point to positive thing he has done or accomplished, citing former President Obama for example as being the one to whom credit should go for any economic gains thus far.

Regarding the immigration issue, her premise is that we need to be compassionate, regardless of the cost and a means to implement the crush of asylum seekers and illegals attempting to enter our country. She provided no citation of facts or sources of information to inform the discussion.

At least the discussion was civil, if not sometimes heated and we could agree to disagree with neither having convinced the other of our opinions.

This same hatred of the president is demonstrated by some in Congress. Speaker Pelosi is not god, but she is lauded by many in the media as god-like in actions and views. (And yes, President Trump has some ardent media supports, also.)

Many Democrats huddle behind Pelosi in partisan photo-ops, and many in the media repeatedly espouse verbatim criticism of the president.

It is time to set aside partisan bickering and personal attacks. Oh that we could apply thoughtful, incremental change to a difficult situation. We are nation, with borders, laws, and limited resources. And, this is not the early 1900s when the immigration landscape was different.

May we find a compromise offered by President Trump a starting point for negotiation rather than another flashpoint and cause for posturing that “anything Trump must be hated” and dismissed.