Kate Hall delighted everyone around here when she placed second in a national long jump competition. Hall is a recent graduate of Lake Regional High School. She is also a diabetic, which is why Sen. Susan Collins invited her to appear before Susan Collins’ (R-Maine) U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Aging.

We can appreciate the recognition given Kate Hall, but there is another Kate — Kate Steinle — about whom Sen. Collins is disturbingly silent.

Steinle is the 32-year-old woman who was gunned down in San Francisco by a criminal illegal alien. Francisco Sanchez is a seven-time felon who was deported five times but who had been released by San Francisco authorities under their “sanctuary city” policy.

I have been immersed in this issue for 13 years, but I was stunned to read that there were “276 jurisdictions around the country over an eight-month period” where “state and local detainer non-compliance … resulted in the release of more than 8,000 criminal alien offenders sought by ICE for deportation.” (“Sanctuary jurisdictions harbor and shield criminal illegal aliens,” according to the Center for Immigration Studies, July, 2015).

“Detainers” are requests made by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold illegal aliens until ICE agents can come and take them into custody.

Maybe it is time that Sen. Collins spend less time on photo ops and more time on her obligation to speak out against the sanctuary city policy.

Robert Casimiro, Bridgton

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