On behalf of Jewish clergy serving communities across Chicago and Illinois, we write in opposition to the escalating campaign of fear and repression carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in our city and suburbs.
In recent weeks, ICE has disappeared people, used tear gas in residential neighborhoods and shot at least two residents with live rounds, one fatally.
At Broadview, agents fired rubber bullets on demonstrators, including clergy members. In South Shore, ICE and Border Patrol staged an overnight raid on an apartment building, dragging families from their beds, separating children from parents and leaving them handcuffed outdoors for hours.
These tactics are spreading fear across Illinois.
As Americans, we believe deeply in our nation’s history as a refuge for those seeking safety. As Jews, we are commanded 36 times in the Torah to welcome the ger — the stranger, the immigrant, the refugee. “The ger who resides with you shall be as the citizen among you … and you shall love them as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Leviticus 19:33–34).
It is our patriotic and sacred duty to uphold just immigration policies and protect our vulnerable neighbors.
Many of us descend from people who fled state-sponsored terror, when paramilitary forces patrolled their neighborhoods. Our history teaches that safety does not come from repression but from connection — from showing up for our neighbors and refusing to be silent when state power targets a community.
We must use every tool at our disposal to ensure a just and compassionate immigration system. A broad coalition of community organizations, led by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, is urging lawmakers in Springfield to pass the Safety and Action for Liberation Together package, which would:
- Bar civil arrests by ICE and other law enforcement at state courthouses
- Protect patients and staff from law enforcement actions inside hospitals
- Expand Safe Schools protections to early childhood and higher education spaces
- Give Illinois residents the right to sue federal agencies for unlawful arrests and detentions
We call on the Illinois General Assembly to pass this legislation and on people of all faiths to stand together to protect our communities and uphold human dignity.
Rabbi Capers C. Funnye Jr., Chicago Lawn
Rabbi Isaac Serotta, Highland Park
Rabbi Jessie Wainer, Lombard
Rabbi Shoshanah Conover, Lake View
Winning formula in baseball
One of the two World Series teams is in Canada, the most talked-about player is from Japan, and no Americans are complaining about this foreign presence in our national pastime. We just want to see good baseball. There’s a lesson there for some of our political leaders, if they care to heed it.
Malcolm Litowitz, Highland Park
Costs of attacks on alleged drug boats will be steep
I commend Jacob Sullum on his column in which he condemns the Trump regime’s attacks on alleged drug boats over the past several weeks. Sullum is right to call these attacks unlawful executions, because that is exactly what they are.
Terrifyingly, these immoral and illegal acts are likely just a preview of what the Trump regime would like to do to Americans in cities across our nation.
In relation to these attacks, don’t forget that Trump previously expressed admiration for the brutal former leader of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte.
Trump regime leaders should take note of what happened to Duterte once he was out of power: He was arrested and charged by the International Criminal Court for the unlawful killing of at least 76 of his own people. Duterte will now spend most of the rest of his life fighting these charges, and if convicted, in prison.
While it’s hard to expect GOP voters to condemn these attacks, they may flinch at their cost. Which is something the media needs to chase down, as it is very likely the planning and execution of these attacks will incur stratospheric costs. Not only in damage to the American reputation in the world but also in taxpayer dollars. Maybe the costs of these unconscionable attacks will make some GOP voters think twice about them.
Barry Owen, Lake View
Championing immunizations
As a polio survivor, I am disheartened to acknowledge a future in which polio may return. While tremendous progress has been made against vaccine-preventable diseases, in this era of global health challenges — from reduced funding to competing priorities to the proliferation of anti-vaccine sentiment — we’re at risk for the resurgence of diseases like polio.
Although Rotary International and its Global Polio Eradication Initiative partners have reduced polio cases by 99.9% worldwide thanks to large-scale immunization campaigns, Afghanistan and Pakistan continue to report cases of wild polio.
Meanwhile, outbreaks of other vaccine-preventable diseases like measles are occurring worldwide. These diseases are a threat everywhere, including to America, because the diseases don’t respect boundaries.
Oct. 24 was World Polio Day, and I urge readers to join me in championing immunization and publicly supporting polio eradication. Visit endpolio.org to learn what actions you can take to help stop the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases and prevent future generations from the paralyzing effects of polio I continue to live with.
Ina Pinkney, Buena Park