In late 2025, UCLA released a study that looked at Latino immigrant labor employment across every major red and blue state across the country. Researchers found that Texas and Florida, among the loudest anti-immigration states, depend on immigrant labor at about the roughly the same rates as California and more than New York. In other words, red states can’t function without the very people they say they want to deport.
Red state conservatives attack immigrants publicly, so no one looks too closely at their own behavior. As Shakespeare once wrote: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
A good example of someone “protesting too much” has been Donald Trump, who has repeatedly attacked undocumented migrants as “animals” who “poison the blood of our country.”
Given those types of comments, it is more than ironic that the Trump Tower in Manhattan was built by employing undocumented Polish workers in 1980s, while Trump was telling Americans that immigrants were stealing their jobs. Trump’s golf courses hired undocumented workers for decades. Of course, Trump will deny all of these facts as “fake news.”
Trump and MAGA need you to hate immigrants, so you don’t notice they’re the ones hiring immigrants. The louder the outrage, the bigger the secret they’re hiding from the public.
By the way, aren’t we still waiting for millions of more documents to be released from the Epstein files?
Bob Chimis, Elmwood Park
Abusive cops are among repeat violent offenders who dodge accountability
I strongly agree with many of the points raised by retired Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel in his recent op-ed regarding the public view of policing.
But I feel an important issue needs to be brought into the mix. When he speaks of “violent offenders being cycled through the system with no meaningful consequences,” it is hard not to think of those notorious instances where it was police brutality, ending with fatalities in some cases, that resulted in no meaningful consequences to the actors.
People need to be reassured that those rare incidents of excessive and violent behavior will result in serious punishment and not that justice favors the powerful.
Victor Skade, Brookfield
Breaking Chicago’s flooding cycle
As severe storms increase in intensity and frequency, Chicago is being forced to fight today’s storms with yesterday’s tools, and residents are paying the price with their health, homes and peace of mind. Using federal disaster recovery dollars received last year, the city must reimagine Chicago’s response to severe downpours. Chicagoans deserve a city that meets this moment.
Tens of thousands of homes flooded in 2023, leaving behind not only costly repairs for the city and residents but also serious health risks such as mold, the Sun-Times’ Brett Chase recently reported. The aftermath of flooding lingers for years, affecting residents’ health, finances and well-being.
As more severe weather events bring heavier rainfall, this cycle is becoming more common and more expensive. But the deeper problem is that much of Chicago’s stormwater system was never designed for the scale of storms we are now experiencing, and the city’s green places are far too few to naturally absorb excess water. Fixing that will require a more comprehensive approach to infrastructure that reduces flood risk and centers on community health and resilience.
We have learned the hard way that no single solution can handle today’s storms. Traditional “gray” infrastructure — such as pipes, pumps and tunnels — remains essential, but our system is failing with the climate realities we face today.
Natural systems — from wetlands and urban tree canopies to rain gardens and parks — can slow, store and absorb stormwater before it overwhelms pipes and pavement. Research from The Nature Conservancy, drawing on nearly 1,500 studies, shows these nature-based solutions can also deliver strong economic returns by reducing flood damage while improving air and water quality, cooling neighborhoods and strengthening communities. The best results come from sustained investment in both green and gray solutions, designed to work together.
Chicago should take action now to invest in flood recovery and resilience with the federal dollars already on hand. This presents a rare opportunity, not just to rebuild what was damaged, but to rethink how we reduce risk going forward. If we invest in a more complete strategy, we can begin to break the cycle and design a system not for the past but for the future.
Georgie Geraghty, Illinois executive director and Midwest partner, The Nature Conservancy
Wheels of injustice
Apparently, the appropriate response to comply with a field sobriety test is “screw you.” It obviously worked for the Cook County Karen — Board of Review Commissioner Samantha Steele — who was acquitted by a judge who said evidence only showed “suspicion of intoxication.”
Steele was driving erratically, hit a parked car, had an open bottle of wine in her car and refused to cooperate with police, who noticed her slurring in the 2024 incident.
What more did the judge need? The judge set a bad precedent. Be belligerent, uncooperative, make up a dog-ate-my-homework excuse and get off. We need our judicial system to apply common sense to clear-cut cases.
Steven Fortuna, Naperville
Honoring nurses
I would like to thank and recognize all nurses during this year’s Nurse’s Week, which started last Wednesday and ends Tuesday.
I am retired after 45 years of hospital nursing. I look back on my career with gratitude and satisfaction. There is nothing in the world like caring for a patient and helping patients and their families during a stressful time.
These days, nurses are having a difficult time with a nursing shortage and the devaluation of medical science by our current federal administration. Please thank the nurses in your life, and encourage students with interest in people and science to join this rewarding profession.
Patricia Warman, Des Plaines