Sound Off

Sound Off: January 19, 2026

By Sun Herald

January 19, 2026 4:00 AM

Anti-ICE demonstrators protest as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents exit the Bishop Whipple Federal Building parking lot while carrying out detentions in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 16. OCTAVIO JONES AFP via Getty Images

Sun Herald readers weigh in on local and national topics.

Insurrection defined

President Trump threatens to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota — yet refused to use it on Jan. 6, when all three legal triggers were met: (1) Governor makes request because law enforcement is overwhelmed, (2) federal law and the peaceful transfer of power were under direct attack, and (3) constitutional rights were being violently obstructed. Minnesota meets none of those standards: no governor’s request, no collapse of law enforcement, no systematic denial of constitutional rights. This isn’t “law and order.” It’s selective enforcement — power used when politically useful and withheld when inconvenient. The reason this travesty is allowed in a free republic is simple: the Insurrection Act is dangerously vague, weakly checked, and built on the false assumption that presidents act in good faith. Democracies don’t collapse overnight. They erode when emergency powers become political threats — and when Congress looks away.

Hawley’s question

It amazes me the ridiculous comments about Sen. Josh Hawkeys stupid question “can men get pregnant” to an OBGYN doctor. The doctor probably was holding back from asking him if he had a brain.

No facts here, either

I just read a Sound Off post saying that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were better choices for president than Donald Trump. No facts were cited to support this opinion. This is the problem. Left-wing media tells followers who to hate, dwelling on outrage and narrative instead of facts.

ICE in hiding

To all those who say people should “just comply” with ICE, how are we supposed to know who they are? They hide their faces and don’t wear ID. I could buy a t-shirt that says I’m police off the internet. Would you let masked thugs with no badge to arrest you without a fight? If ICE officers are ashamed of what they are doing enough to not identify themselves, maybe they should rethink their career choices.

Page 6?

Stories about human traffickers and child abusers are relegated to page 6. These are serious issues that the media refuses to effectively cover.

Let’s take Louisiana

If it is OK for President Trump to annex Greenland, why can’t Gov. Reeves annex Texas and Louisiana, for example. Couldn’t we use their oil?

So many complaints

If you’re going about your business legally, you don’t have anything to worry about, as far as ICE is concerned.

Send your Sound Offs to soundoff@sunherald.com.