I am writing to express my outrage at the moral bankruptcy on full display by our elected officials — specifically Gov. JB Pritzker and Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart. The continued two-faced behavior that Chicagoans and Illinoisans are forced to endure is no longer something I can sit by and ignore.
I was present at the protest led by faith leaders last Friday in Broadview. I witnessed the prayer, music and love shared by members of the faith community and clergy from all traditions for our abducted immigrant brothers and sisters. The governor and the sheriff have spoken openly about their faith and how it informs their views on social justice. Both have publicly condemned the president and his federal agents operating in Chicago.
Let me be clear: It was not Immigration and Customs Enforcement that attacked me and my fellow members of the faith community. It was not ICE who raised a baton and struck the hand of a man only steps from me as he held his arms in the air. It was not ICE who, with hate and rage in their eyes, knocked over women and elderly protesters.
It was the Illinois State Police and the Cook County sheriff’s officers who committed these sins.
I call upon the governor and the sheriff to stop stepping up to the microphone to say one thing while turning around and ordering their forces to enforce President Donald Trump’s agenda of hate.
Illinois deserves better. God demands better.
— Brandon Fuhr, seminarian, Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago
We need human truth
Silverio Villegas González was a single father who worked over 12 hours a day, and to say that the Tribune unfairly portrayed him is a complete understatement (“Autopsy shows father of 2 fatally shot by ICE struck in neck, had cocaine in system,” Nov. 18). Bringing up that fact that minor traces of cocaine were found in his system is irrelevant to what happened and only serves to shift attention away from the fact that a father in our community died after being detained and handled with unjustifiable force. That detail did nothing to explain or justify his death — it simply blamed the victim, fed harmful narratives about immigrants and distorted the public’s understanding of what actually matters.
In moments like this, reporting should focus on accountability and human truth, not on distracting details that create bias and undermine justice.
— Gabrielle Barber, Franklin Park
Advice for enforcement
The continued back and forth on immigration enforcement in the press, courts and in practice has been more spectacle than actual meaningful progress.
How about the following for starters? The government provides “hold” documents for individuals they are pursuing who have “the worst of the worst” records. The police in Illinois honor these for the individuals they agree have these issues and turn them over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Then let’s see where we go from there, before more large-scale public raids are conducted. It is called compromise, and it seems reasonable to me.
— Gregory A. Staky, Glendale Heights
Reform US immigration
Now that the government shutdown has ended, I would like to ask that Congress and the executive branch turn their focus to developing and passing a 21st century immigration law. For a nation of immigrants, it is odd that this should be so contentious. But our country is divided along party lines and viewpoints on immigration — some believe we should allow anyone who enters the U.S. to remain, and others claim we should admit very few immigrants, if any. Irrational thinking follows to support these beliefs: Immigrants are stealing our elections or immigration agents are Nazis.
The current problems with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents in our cities reflects the problem with our current policies. Of course, Congress is divided on this issue, but I believe it is time to address immigration head-on, creating a 21st century policy. It is a very important issue for our country, our citizens and our relationship to the world.
I do not know what such a law might entail, but I would like the following:
Amnesty and a path for citizenship for people who have been living and working in our country for a number of years (20? 10? two?).
A path for citizenship for children who have been born here, or brought here, by undocumented workers, and grown up here and now face the threat of deportation.
An increase in the number of refugees accepted (the number has plummeted under President Donald Trump.) Refugees are women, children and men who have been vetted and approved for refugee status, often waiting for years to be accepted into the U.S. Let’s do the humane thing and let in more refugee families.
Tightening of the borders, because amnesty does not make sense if we continue to allow people to enter illegally.
Setting clear standards for the number of immigrants who will be accepted to enter, to work in agriculture, construction and other trades, and to study in school.
I know that passing such a bill would be contentious and require compromise, something our nation does not seem to be good at doing these days. But let’s do the difficult thing and reform immigration.
— William Carroll, Chicago
A path to citizenship
Immigration and Customs Enforcement was given an additional $30 billion for operations and $45 billion to build detention centers.
Wouldn’t a more effective, humane approach be to direct a portion of this enormous amount into improving the legal and administrative process that provides a path to citizenship in our great country?
I’m not talking about criminals who should be deported through our due-process legal system. I’m talking about the overwhelming majority of immigrants who have been detained without access to family or legal representation. Most are hardworking people contributing to our society as farmworkers, landscapers, construction workers, etc.
This approach is not performative for political reasons but reflects far better who we are and who we want to continue to be as a country.
— James Keough, Palos Heights
Preserve ACA subsidies
The front-page story “Health insurance rates set to surge” (Nov. 16) underscores how insured people will be hit hard financially if the Affordable Care Act’s subsidies are eliminated by the current administration. I have sold individual and group health insurance policies for 40 years. I know firsthand that health care costs are always increasing, not just insurance premiums, which reflect those increases. Federal officials have suggested that people could be given checks or find other ways to get coverage. These are not viable solutions.
People must make a decision by Dec. 15 in order to have a policy in place by Jan. 1. The ACA has increased participation in the insurance marketplace because it prevents rejection based on preexisting conditions. This spreading of risk benefits all insureds.
But eliminating the ACA’s subsidies would mean that healthy people would drop their policies, leaving mostly chronically ill people in the pool, which would increase costs to the system over time.
No one has presented a better solution than the current ACA with subsidies.
— Richard Sazonoff, Sazonoff Insurance Services, Chicago
Note to readers: As part of our annual Thanksgiving tradition, we’d like to hear from you about what is making you feel thankful this year. (Sincere thoughts only, please.) Email us a letter of no more than 400 words by Sunday, Nov. 23 to letters@chicagotribune.com. Be sure to include your full name and your city/town and use the subject line “Thankful.”
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/21/letters-police-broadview-ice/
