I would like to thank the two attorneys who helped people in a van on the Back Cove bridge on Interstate 295 last Saturday afternoon. I wish I knew who they were and the firm for which they work so I could thank them directly.

They were bicycling on the Back Cove trail and stopped to help six or seven people who had been pulled over by the state police, ostensibly for a broken window (a break so small I could not see it). The police then called Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The last I heard, four children had been put in an ICE van.

Luckily for the people in the van, the two attorneys, one of whom specializes in immigration, stayed at the scene of the traffic stop to advise them and witness what was happening. One took photographs. The body language of at least one of the state troopers indicated that he was not happy these attorneys were there. Frankly, when I saw what was happening, I felt as though I were in Nazi Germany as people were being taken away.

I and my relatives have had broken windshields over the years that have taken time to get fixed, and we have never been stopped on the highway for such a violation. The difference is that we are white and the people in the van apparently were stopped for driving while Hispanic.

On the other hand, I have been stopped twice in the past when my partner, who is Apache, has been in the car with me. Our car was completely searched by dogs on the Manchester (New Hampshire) Regional Airport property before we even arrived at the airport terminal.

Profiling people and sending them off to ICE prisons is despicable and should be stopped. We must stand up and speak out, because these are human beings, and we will be next.

Ginny Schneider

Portland