Padma Nadella

After living in the U.S. for over 25 years, I may have started thinking in English, but my love for my mother tongue Telugu has remained intact. English is effortless to speak, rolls off your tongue easily, and the fact that it is the de facto language in so many world countries made it my choice of communication today, but deep in my heart, I have this admiration for the language I began my life with.

As the Commander-in-Chief (aka Liar-in-chief) was giving his State of the Union address, I was thinking about the state of affairs in my ICE-torn state of Minnesota. The rosy picture that was being painted is not our situation currently, but I have a feeling, to some degree, other areas of the nation are not feeling it too. Unlike the painter of the rosy picture, I am in touch with reality, and my address comes from experience working with people impacted by ICE operations.

I was watching Anderson Cooper’s interview with the “pink coat lady” when I made a decision to finally put my thoughts and emotions into words. “That is the least I could do,” was the last thing she said referring to the video she had taken. Well, this is the least I can do — for Renee Good, Alex Pretti (they have a cute nickname now “Pretti Good”), my fellow Minnesotans and anyone else interested in listening to what we have been going through.