A recent letter concerned about the issue of sanctuary for threatened immigrant families ended the letter with the sentence: “If we encourage people to break laws they feel are unjust, we will not be enjoying (our) freedom for very long” [The Leader, March 1, 2017].

Wasn’t this country’s freedom initiated by illegally refusing to pay taxes without representation – an action which heralded American independence?

Indeed, unless my history book lies, most progress toward freedom and equality for all our country’s citizens has been won with such “law breaking.” The abolition of slavery, a woman’s right to parent her children, women’s right to vote, the right to fair wages, an end to segregation, gay rights and sanctuary for Central American refugees in the 1980s.

There are still the ongoing struggles for the rights of indigenous people according to treaty law, resistance to “first strike” nuclear weapons (illegal under treaty law) and protection of our environment.

Brave, ordinary people standing up for the rights of themselves and other brave people to live freely – that’s about as American as it gets.

HANNAH RUSSELL

Port Townsend