Chicago should hit pause on taking in more migrants
Migrants stay in a makeshift shelter at O’Hare International Airport.
Erin Hooley/AP
The migrants in Chicago have divided the residents in Chicago. I feel we all would like to help the new arrivals, but at whose and what expense are we willing to do this? Let’s be honest: Chicago is not prepared to feed, clothe and provide housing for the thousands of new immigrants, and until we are, we should pause in accepting any new arrivals.
Would we let a family adopt any children if they could not provide food, medicine, clothing and housing for them? I think not. I think we need to take a step back and find solutions to these problems before we accept any new arrivals. In addition, the only money the City of Chicago has is taxpayers’ money, so yes, Chicagoans should have input as to how its spent. That being said, I ask our mayor to tell us: How much of our money are you willing to spend?
Dan Goodwin, Humboldt Park
Send migrants to other cities
Chicago’s capacity for taking in migrants has been exceeded, yet still more are coming here. Some facilities are being taken from us and given to them as shelters. Too many are in our police stations. We are still waiting to see who will get stuck with the bill. When these people eventually become citizens, they will vote for those who took care of them and not those who paid the bills.
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In the meantime, other cities, like Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, and most others, are not facing any of these problems. Their leaders realize that their first responsibility is to their constituents.
When the next buses come in, send them to one of these cities, and if there are to be any tent encampments, put them on J.B. Pritzker’s Wisconsin property.
Larry E. Nazimek, Logan Square
A slap on the wrist in toddler’s shooting
It is incredible that a man facing nearly 20 felony charges from a road rage shooting —where he shot into a car, then stopped in traffic to fire four more shots into the car, critically wounded a 22-month old toddler in the head, blinded him in his right eye — gets a plea deal with all the charges dropped (except one count of aggravated discharge of a weapon) and only four years in prison. He is expected to be released next fall. while the child will suffer the loss of his eye for the rest of his life.
It’s no wonder that a spokeswoman for the state’s attorney’s office would not comment because how could she justify that decision? It’s no wonder the public has no confidence in our justice system when a bad guy gets a slap on the wrist for such a crime.
Mario Caruso, Lincoln Square
Don’t blame Israel for protecting itself
Before the U.S. entered World War II, FDR was heard to say that war was a very bad thing. I doubt that many in this country want people killed on either side in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
For those placing all the blame on Israel, I ask the following. How do you think the U.S. should react if rockets are fired, killing people, from either Mexico or Canada? Suppose Russia decides to attack across the Bering Strait? What if North Korea actually uses one of the ICBMs with which they constantly threaten us? Taking the upper hand, the peace initiative, is very idealistic. But rockets killing people and an organization that has the destruction of Israel as one of the goals in its charter are very real.
Laurence Siegel, Manteno