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How many times have you heard or read the words, “President Joe Biden is soft on the border” or “Donald Trump’s border policies are inhumane”? I have read article after article and listened to newscast after newscast where blame for our immigration crisis has been placed on Republicans by Democrats and on Democrats by Republicans.
My observations over a month reveal that more than 90% of opinions and letters regarding immigration focus on blaming a particular party for the immigration crisis. I believe the blame game serves only to prolong the fight against critical bipartisan efforts.
I firmly believe both parties must be willing to put aside their differences and develop strong bipartisan legislation that will be fully endorsed and consistently enforced by both parties. This kind of effort would give our country the direction we need to begin resolving our immigrant issues.
We must consider what is happening in Central America that is causing this mass migration. However, we can gain a level of reasonable control of the situation. I understand there is a bipartisan committee currently working on developing legislation in this regard. We should be writing to encourage the members’ efforts.
What is my point? When we write opinions that place blame on a particular party, we are simply making ourselves feel better about our own biases against another party. I remind you that the last four presidents — George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Trump and Biden — failed at resolving the border problem. Someone will inevitably say, however, that one did better than the other. It’s lipstick on a pig. The border dilemma is still with us.
We, in general, are to blame! Voters must send a clear message to Congress that we want a sustained bipartisan effort that will report progress on a regular basis. Congress should also know and understand that those in power who choose to block or smear this effort will be in jeopardy of losing their seats. Nothing else at this point has worked.
I guarantee that bipartisan legislation supported and endorsed by the voters will serve our needs more effectively than biased opinions or letters.
— George Comer, Crown Point
Texas governor’s point
Clearly, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is pushing the envelope to the limit by forwarding busloads of immigrants to Chicago, the city he has targeted to make a political point since we call it the nation’s “welcoming city.” Chicago has earned that reputation by absorbing thousands of immigrants over the years, mostly destitute Europeans, many from the Balkans and Eastern Europe, as well as Irish galore as a result of the famine many years ago, and displaced people after World Wars I and II.
But some here may wonder: “How many is enough?” If Mayor Brandon Johnson has a Plan B up his sleeve, so far, it is a secret. Many mayors in his shoes would be tempted to play Abbott’s game by sending many of the migrants to Republican-run cities, in a tit-for-tat countermove. It may yet come to that. Hello, Milwaukee? Madison? Racine? Beloit? Detroit? Indianapolis?
Many parts of the country complain of not enough workers, but Abbott is not sending them there because he wants to make a political point instead. Logic is the least of it, unless the goal is to try to embarrass Democratic bastions that may or may not be equipped to absorb a big and protracted influx of outlanders.
Likely, the immigrants will find their way to locations in need of workers, and tensions shall subside as both cultures adjust to each other, a familiar pattern repeating the absorption of waves of Czechs, Poles, Bohemians and others over the years, many of whom were uprooted by war.
These days, the only hostility in the mix seem to come from Republican politicians who too easily forget that many of their own ancestors arrived here as refugees or people otherwise scuffling to make a place for themselves in the world. And America became the better for it.
If anyone hereabout is burning effigies of Abbott, it has yet to be reported, though he has earned our antipathy, if not scorn. Maybe President Joe Biden should call Abbott’s bluff, and Washington should activate an absorption plan spread far and wide, since the USA always was and shall continue to be the destination of choice for the world’s refugees.
Accepting them has made us only stronger.
— Ted Z. Manuel, Chicago
Migrant situation in Texas
Almost every day, there is a new article regarding the plight of the asylum-seekers in Chicago. The governor of Texas continues to be criticized for managing the influx of migrants by sending them to other cities to decompress the surge in his state.
As the Tribune provides the number of migrants who have arrived in Chicago over the past year, it fails to mention the volume of migrants who cross the border in Texas daily. What percentage of the migrants are living in Chicago compared with the number in Texas?
This is a national issue, and a balanced picture of the crisis should be presented.
— Cathy Rennau, Oak Park
Why local news matters
Regarding “Candidate faces scrutiny over reversed conviction” (Dec. 22): I read with interest the front-page article by reporters A.D. Quig and Sam Charles. This article is a fine example of the investigative reporting done by Tribune reporters. It not only provides important information the public needs from a historic standpoint, but it also is so relevant today.
This is the very reason we need to support local news. Local news builds strong, informed communities. I am a Chicago resident. This is the reason I subscribe to the Tribune.
— Kathryn Williams, Chicago
Cops staying in their cars
Retired Chicago police Officer Michael C. Flynn’s letter (“Putting cops in harm’s way”), in response to a letter from a police officer from another state (“Fixed posts,” Dec. 16) concerning police officers not getting out of their cars to interact with the people they serve, was very sad indeed.
Chicago Tribune Opinion
When the police are afraid to interact with the people on the streets and they stay in their cars, they serve and protect no one but themselves. Hopefully, that is not the mentality of our police officers. If so, then we are all unsafe on the streets of Chicago.
— Andrew Kachiroubas, Chicago
They would lose their jobs
In answer to Scott Lauder’s questions in his letter “A hypothetical situation” (Dec. 23): Middle-aged white men don’t keep their jobs for making the same comments Harvard University President Claudine Gay and Illinois NAACP President Teresa Haley made.
— Bruce R. Hovanec, Chicago
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