Editor’s note: The following letter was originally submitted to The New York Times in response to, “A Colorado Town Is Rocked by an ICE Arrest” (New York Times, Nov. 3)). The Times did not publish it. The author has asked to share it locally.
I am a 16-year resident of Durango, the town in rural southwestern Colorado featured in your Nov. 3 article about an ICE altercation and the investigation requested by the chief of police. We are a compassionate community who center care of one another. It’s part of life in a small town in a rural region. Folks show up for one another – to build fences, talk across fence lines and sit in front of fences when kids and their father are detained by ICE.
We are a mountain town, a river town, a tourist town. A community of people who love the land and value connection. I wish the article had used language that reflected this spirit rather than labeling us a “liberal college town.” We are working hard here to love and be in relationship with all our neighbors – liberal, conservative and everything in between. Describing compassion, rather than political identity, better captures who lives here and why we show up for each other.
We are a potpourri of people connecting across the divides created by politicians and media. There is so much difference here, and – just as importantly – so much love.
Heidi Steltzer
Durango
