Hateful words about immigrants have real consequences. Last month, during the presidential debate, Donald Trump claimed, without any evidence, that immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were “eating the pets.” This caused a violent backlash where the community came under intense threat, to the point where the city had to close schools because it was not safe for children and others to leave their homes.

Springfield’s mayor, as well as Republican Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine begged MAGA leaders and followers alike to stop terrorizing their community, saying that immigrants “came to Springfield to work … What the companies tell us is that they are very good workers. They’re very happy to have them there. And, frankly, that’s helped the economy.”

In the wake of this national news, I am utterly shocked and deeply disappointed that the Recorder chose to publish a hateful rant about immigrants full of dangerous misinformation this past week. The Oct. 10 letter to the editor titled “‘Real Americans’ will be voting for Trump” makes a number of false claims, from “more and more Americans are being harmed by immigrants,” to “the border remains wide open under Harris-Biden.”

This country would come abruptly grinding to a halt without immigrants. What’s more, unless you are Indigenous to this continent, or your ancestors were brought here as enslaved people, we were all immigrants to this country at one point. The author and the Recorder itself by extension sinks even lower in referring to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Douglas Emhoff’s lazy wife” rather than by name, in an openly misogynistic and racist cheap shot.

That the Recorder chose to publish this letter to the editor is both outrageous and embarrassing in equal measure. This kind of rhetoric harms people. Please do better.

Molly Merrett

Greenfield