Reps. Nick LaLota and Andrew Garbarino both voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. LaLota said, “This is a pro-worker, pro-family, pro-growth bill” [“Trump cuts to cost NYS billions,” News, July 13]. Garbarino said, “While not perfect, this bill includes real wins for Long Island and for the American people. I was proud to cast my ‘yes’ vote to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill.”

How is this bill pro-worker, pro-family when it is estimated that federal Medicaid cuts will cost as many as 215,000 jobs because of reduced Medicaid funding for hospitals? How is this bill a real win for Long Island and the American people when a nonpartisan research organization concluded that New York will lose $150 billion in federal Medicaid funds over the next 10 years?

On July Fourth, Independence Day, Donald Trump signed a bill that slashes Medicaid and SNAP, imposes stricter Medicaid work requirements, and threatens community-based services. For people with disabilities, it’s a declaration that our independence is conditional.

Disability Pride Month, celebrated every July, affirms our history, value, and right to exist as we are. But this bill tells us that if we can’t meet an able-bodied standard of productivity, we may not get health care or food benefits. And autonomy is only for those who can clock 80 hours a month. Accessible jobs are rare. Transit is unreliable. Accommodations are inconsistent. The system was never built for us — and now it punishes us for not fitting in.

Meanwhile, cuts to community-based services will push more people with disabilities into crisis, poverty, or institutions. These programs make independence possible. This isn’t policy reform — it’s ableism wrapped in red, white, and blue.

Long Island’s thousands of residents with disabilities who contribute every day deserve more than performative patriotism. They deserve access, care, and respect — without needing to prove their worth.

Local leaders must invest in Medicaid-funded services, expand accessible transit, build inclusive workforce pipelines, and fill the SNAP gap. Real independence includes all of us.

The cuts to Medicaid will be devastating to our communities. Medicaid covers basic health care for many Long Islanders, from seeing a doctor when sick to securing medication for chronic illnesses to getting nursing home care.

We are in the midst of a silver tsunami on Long Island with our aging population exploding. Most long-term care needs of our older adults are paid for by Medicaid. This industry is already facing challenges of staffing shortages, overcrowding, and safety concerns due to lack of adequate funding. We should do everything we can to ensure access to quality care for our aging loved ones.

Working-poor families need access to quality care as well. Planned Parenthood patients are among the millions who would be blocked from health care if Medicaid is slashed.

We should all seek to ensure that everyone, young and old, rich and poor, has access to quality health care.

As a retired senior with a good pension and decent health care, my lifestyle will probably not be much affected by this bill.

But as a New Yorker, when any New Yorker is hurt, I am hurt. And as an American, whenever any American is hurt, I am hurt. And especially as a practicing Catholic, whenever any human being is hurt, I am hurt. What would Jesus do? He would write his representatives and let them know of his outrage. And he would write his local paper and express his disgust.

Sara Lopez Garcia entered this country illegally. It is admirable that she utilized her time here in the United States in a most productive way and made contributions to society.

She does not, however, deserve to have legal immigrant status granted to her before other immigrants who are proceeding through the immigration process legally [“Detention stuns LI community,” Letters, July 15].

I would like to know the percentage of immigrants who are successful of all those who enter this country illegally. Do we get one Lopez Garcia success story per 100? One per 1,000?

We don’t know who is going to successfully assimilate and contribute to our society. This is why we need the legal process of immigration to be adhered to. We need the Lopez Garcias of the world to be the ones given the opportunities legally. And they must wait their turn

 Just go to and follow the prompts. Or email your opinion to [email protected]. Submissions should be no more than Please provide your full name, hometown, phone number and any relevant expertise or affiliation. Include the headline and date of the article you are responding to. Letters become the property of Newsday and are edited for all media. Due to volume, readers are limited to one letter in print every . Published letters reflect the ratio received on each topic.