Dear Editor,
We, the undersigned, are Asian American men that have served in the United States Armed Forces. Our active military service varies from post-World War II, Korean War, Vietnam era and post-Vietnam era. The branches of service, ranks and military occupational specialties also differed.
Our common bond is that we all took an oath and pledged our allegiance to serve and protect the Constitution of the United States. Upon completing our military service, we all received HONORABLE Discharges.
Today, as veterans, we are frustrated, perplexed and angry. We see no “honor” watching unrestrained, masked, armed ICE troops acting under false pretext of making America great again, violating clauses and amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
POTUS’ divide and conquer rhetoric, actions and policies have instigated and unleashed unmitigated racial hatred, profiling red vs. blue nonsense, civil unrest and even death. Thus far in 2026, there have been nine ICE-related deaths of human beings. Two of these deaths were white American citizens shot and killed by ICE agents.
Purposely, we substitute “human beings” for “immigrants” because the calculated misuse of semantics is historically used to dehumanized people of color, making it appear to seem “OK” to perpetuate less-than-human treatment on “us” (e.g., word “Jap” used to dehumanize and justify incarcerating 120,000 Japanese Americans in WWII).
What is happening today is unprecedented — entering into homes without court-ordered warrants; U.S. citizens (primarily persons of color) indiscriminately stopped by armed ICE patrols and “ordered” to prove citizenship; and certain “Blue” states occupied by massive forces of armed ICE patrols because POTUS harbors a personal vendetta against the leaders of the targeted state (e.g., Texas and Florida have more “immigrants” than Minnesota).
All the while, elected government officials turn a blind eye due to fear of POTUS’ “repercussion.”
Unfortunately, unless WE act, the situation will worsen.
History has proven that when the overwhelming majority of like-minded people put aside petty differences and unite in the interest of a common cause (justice), those politicians who thought they were in control are “scared straight” and will do what is right, rather than face the consequences (e.g., mass protest and demonstrations ended the war in Vietnam).
Now is the time to cast aside the “model minority” myth and stand up and be counted. Conscious acts of resistance (e.g., demonstrating, protecting our neighbors, writing a letter to a representative, signing a petition, boycotting a Trump-supporting business, etc.) — nothing is too small as it adds a ripple effect to countless other progressive acts of resistance ultimately creating a tsunami to be reckoned with.
Signed Signatures (so far),
Hiroyuki Chris Taga
Art Ishii
Mel “Pops” Higashi
Norman Nakamura
Roger Karl Nakazawa
Mike Nakayama
Nick Nagatani
Mike Song
Mia Yamamoto
Kiki Kingi
Ron Shintani
Chris Sagawa
Mike Sugawara
Laurence Hirota
John Nishikawa
Kenneth Hayashi
Henry Ako
Richard “Togo” Toguchi
Jun Arai
Dennis Ishiki
Ron Kato
Keith Kadomiya
