Patty Lewis’s well-researched and forceful letter in the Independent of last week explains the grave dangers posed by a policy of wide-scale deportation. Many undocumented residents, without whom our dairy industry and other aspects of our local economy would be significantly weakened, are becoming terrified.

We are a group of concerned citizens from Bristol, Lincoln, New Haven and Starksboro, writing to express our concern and compassion for these beleaguered neighbors. We hold them and their families in high regard and are very grateful for all they contribute. This is an important time to reach out to them with both moral support and concrete assistance. We’re all in it together.

Gary Smith

Mary Adams-Smith

Alice Leeds

John Elder

Sansea Sparling

Margi Gregory

Peter Gregory

Maryanne Robinson

Sarah Stott

Peter Grant

Howard Jennings