Columnist Heidi Stevens falsely states, “Even if someone is proven to be undocumented, that is not a crime in the United States. It’s a civil offense” (“Immigrant crackdown takes us down cruel path,” Oct. 12).

Entering the U.S. without authorization is also a federal crime — a misdemeanor — punishable by fines and potentially a jail term of up to six months, according to the U.S. Code.

Stevens ignores U.S. Code Title 8, Sections 1182, 1325 and 1227.

Furthermore, notwithstanding the felons caught and deported and the citizens mistakenly arrested but later released, Stevens disregards with indifference the tens of thousands of naturalized immigrant citizens who made the effort in the beginning with diligence to follow the law to gain citizenship.

— David N. Simon, Chicago

The cause of the chaos

The press and politicians talk about “root causes” ad nauseam.  Where are the voices talking about the root cause of the immigration chaos? The past administration, then-Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas backed by then-President Joe Biden, caused this mayhem, lest we forget.

— Dan Jorndt, Glenview

Chicagoans united

On Oct. 3, my spouse, Tracey, and I were leaving the Art Institute when I received this text from a parishioner: “ICE is all over my school’s neighborhood (Mozart Elementary in Logan Square). They tear gassed a grocery store to get people out, other schools nearby are going into soft lockdowns to keep kids safe. This is insanity!”

I texted my colleague, the Rev. Courtney Reid, who responded that she was on her way to McPherson Elementary near our church. We decided to drive to Logan Square to be present at school dismissal. I could feel my anxiety and anger rising as we drove through our beautiful city on a crisp, warm, gloriously sunny and blue-sky fall day. When we got to Mozart, what we saw brought tears to our eyes: Every few feet stood rapid responders on alert, “Know Your Rights” pamphlets in hand. The entire school was rung with community members — 20- and 30-somethings who must work from home, retirees, young dads and moms pushing strollers getting ready to pick up kids, school staff members and many more.

Then we drove to Funston Elementary, then to Humboldt Park Health Clinic, and, again, there were brave, no-nonsense Chicagoans, out to make clear that we will protect the vulnerable and stand against fear. Though angered and saddened by the need, we were bolstered and touched by the bravery and compassion on display. This past Friday, we repeated this drill in my own neighborhood of Ravenswood. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents terrorized the North Side, but hundreds poured out to surround our schools — Amundsen, Chappell, McPherson, Ravenswood and more.

This is a hard time, but there is one concrete thing we can do: Stand together, get trained to be an effective witness, show up when we can. If masses of people are trained as rapid responders, every occurrence of fearmongering and violence could be met with nonviolent, courageous witness.

We can all play a part in keeping our city, our country, brave and free. And in doing so, we keep our hearts soft and courageous, too.

— The Rev. E. Suzanne Wille, rector, All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Chicago

Learn from us in DC

Here’s what’s next for Chicago.

Uniformed soldiers with rifles, helicopters overhead and press conferences promising order. In Washington, D.C., National Guard troops didn’t just secure government buildings, but were deployed into Metro stations, playgrounds, grocery store parking lots, and places where neighbors gather and kids walk home from school. Community events were canceled. Business slowed down.

As D.C. residents who have lived under federal military occupation since August, we offer this warning with urgency and clarity: This has never been about protecting communities. It’s about suppressing them.

Like many cities, D.C. experienced a spike in crime during the pandemic. By the time federal troops were deployed this summer, those numbers were trending downward because of steady, local investment in proven strategies such as violence interruption programs, youth outreach and reentry services designed to address the root causes of harm.

Nearly $200 million in federal tax dollars has been spent on a mission that a leaked Department of Defense memo described as “disorganized” and “demoralizing.” D.C. businesses have suffered more than $50 million in lost revenue from canceled conferences and events. Tourism has declined. Everyday life has grown more tense. Many D.C. residents report feeling less safe.

The federal government had countless tools it could have used to support public safety, such as by confirming judges to ease a 25% vacancy rate in our courts or reversing devastating cuts to Federal Emergency Management Agency support and Department of Justice community-based violence grants for gun violence intervention. The federal government decided against these data-backed strategies; the goal of the National Guard deployment was a show of force, not public safety.

We urge Chicago to learn from what we’ve endured. The military came to D.C., and what resulted was taxpayer costs, millions in lost business revenue, youth outreach programs sidelined, courtrooms overwhelmed by low-level offenses and juries throwing out federal indictments at rates higher than we’ve seen in years. The real impact has been a breakdown in public trust and a chilling effect on our democratic institutions.

Chicago doesn’t need to guess what happens next. D.C. residents are already living it.

— Vanessa Batters-Thompson, executive director, DC Appleseed Center for Law and Justice

Record the abuses

The surrealistic violent images in Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s video of the recent military-style federal raid on a Chicago apartment building in the middle of the night reminded me of newspaper images in 1937 of the aerial attack on the defenseless town of Guernica in the Basque region of Spain, a town noted for its opposition to the fascist Spanish forces of Francisco Franco. German and Italian aircraft dropped bombs and fired machine guns on the defenseless civilians in the town.

The scale of violence in these two events in Chicago and Guernica is, of course, vastly different but the performative logic is the same. In both cases, the objective is to terrorize defenseless civilians and send a message of power and cruelty to others who might oppose the respective regimes.

But there are ways to oppose. One way is the power of art, as Simon Schama shows for the case of Pablo Picasso’s painting of the Guernica terror. All of us can become a modern Picasso with our cellphones, by documenting the images of federal military abuses and civil rights violations. We can also draw attention to the irony of Noem’s video: It aims to glorify military-style violence against the homeland but demonstrates instead the cruel excesses of that policy.

— William P. Murphy, Tucson, Arizona

Misplaced priorities

Gov. JB Pritzker gives nearly daily speeches against President Donald Trump. And what about the shooters in the July 2 mass shooting or those in the Labor Day weekend shootings in which 58 were shot? Unimportant? Those shooters are still out in Chicago walking around.

Apparently, Pritzker is more interested in burnishing his anti-Trump image than he is getting the killers off the street. For that reason, I support the president’s actions.

We have seen the picture of Pritzker with his platoon of bodyguards. The rest of us?

— Jim Halas, Norridge

Americans showing up

How dare U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson refer to the upcoming “No Kings” protest as a “Hate America Rally.” To characterize participants as pro-Hamas or “antifa” is beyond idiotic. If you have been to any of these protests, as I have, you would see that families and grandparents and all kinds of concerned citizens are well represented.

If administration officials were at all committed to serving the American public, they might want to ask what is driving so many people to speak out. What this administration is committed to is power and self-enrichment on the backs of the middle class. And the Republicans are complicit in this betrayal.

Join us on Saturday and show Johnson what it means to be a true American.

— Debbie Bartels, Geneva

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/17/letters-101725-immigrants/