Thank you for the informative and highly nuanced article on crime and the migrants in our city, “Migrant arrests are up, but it’s no crime wave” (April 28).
I am a resident of the financial district, and the Tribune article captures the very mixed feelings I experience toward the Venezuelan migrant situation. On the one hand, I want the very best for asylum-seekers coming from countries ravaged by economic collapse. Venezuela has been ravaged by failed government policies and actual economic sabotage by our politicians in Washington. The resultant poverty and migration are not the fault of the many young people who have come to the United States to feed themselves and their families.
On the other hand, it is distressing to see in my neighborhood a stew boiling from young people, with worlds of energy but no job, money, energy or creative direction, hanging out on a street corner.
It would be nice to walk near the beautiful Harold Washington Library Center and not choke on the smell of weed or hear blaring music from loud crowds of young people littering the streets.
Our city needs a plan to employ and house these migrants. Given the thousands of abandoned houses on the South and West sides, employing the migrants in construction to renovate these properties would be a great solution. They could, with government help, rehab these abandoned houses. The income they receive would circulate, raising the standard of living. And they would feel a sense of pride in building their new communities. Ditto for the many young jobless African Americans who need work and affordable housing.
We need to political will at City Hall to make this happen.
— Caise D. Hasan, Chicago
Texas not to blame for migrants
Texas should not be blamed for busing migrants to Chicago. It is not allowed to stop those who illegally cross our border. It buses these people to Chicago where they will be welcomed.
In Chicago, they will be fed, clothed and sheltered. Their children will be educated in our public schools. And they can receive state-funded health care.
As comedian Yakov Smirnoff used to say, “What a country!”
— Larry E. Nazimek, Chicago
Mayor Brandon Johnson must go
Despite what Will Johnson states in his op-ed about Mayor Brandon Johnson (“Chicagoans’ blunt assessment of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s first year,” April 28), I believe that the distress that many Chicagoans feel about the mayor’s leadership is understated. More people are so dissatisfied with Brandon Johnson’s leadership that they are considering a mayoral recall, which I heartily support.
In the past year, I have talked to many people including African Americans who don’t like him. Johnson was never qualified to become our mayor. He lacks not only the experience but also the intelligence and courage needed to run this city. His suggestions for the housing of the migrants were inhumane. He has not done enough to curb the violence that has caused many of us to refrain from traveling in the city. We are targets walking down the street, shopping downtown or even attending plays. We are too scared, even abandoning using the CTA because we perceive it as too dangerous.
For the handling of the migrants and city violence alone, Johnson deserves an F in performance.
We didn’t like his Bring Chicago Home plan, and despite his bravado, the city cannot afford to build new homes for the Bears and White Sox.
We can’t tolerate three more years of his incompetent leadership. He must go!
— Judith Arkes, Chicago
Why throw shade on Canada?
With all the troubling news inundating us these days, the Tribune Editorial Board decided to get up on the wrong side of the bed and take a swipe at Canada (“Want to move to Canada? Think carefully, Americans.,” April 26).
My only question is: Why?
Many of my American friends have, over the years, joked they’d head north if the craziness in the U.S. doesn’t abate. Frankly, it remains simply a fun Thursday topic for banter over coffee and doughnuts.
No one has acted upon it …yet.
So, why the editorial board’s high elbow? Canucks are fed up with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau? He’s been in power nearly a decade, and maybe things are getting a little stale. Believe me, it’s pure “Canadian beige” in comparison to the clown show taking place on cable news in this “land of the free”!
High prices? Falling standard of living? All issues facing everyone in a time when college graduates are bunking in Mom and Dad’s basement. Linguistic and immigration squabbles? Is the editorial board suggesting that every developed nation isn’t grappling with these issues (Hello, southern border)?
Then there’s the greedy Canadian taxman coming after capital gains! How else does the board expect Canada to pay for universal health care (where residents don’t lose their houses to medical providers whose CEOs live on private islands)? Honda just announced an $11 billion electric vehicle investment in Ontario. Battery-makers are also putting their money where their mouth is and creating jobs. (Doesn’t quite sound like the FoxConn con job in Wisconsin, does it?)
So, sure, out of the blue, the editorial board decides to “blame Canada.” I am pretty sure if folks still want to go through the immigration process, they’d be welcome just like all the other immigrants. Canada is the neighbor to the North, minding its own business and growing in every way imaginable. You can find cranks to knock it in any Tim Hortons over a double-double coffee and doughnuts.
— Kevin Tibbles, Highland Park
Help migrating birds stay alive
Spring migration is underway, through the end of May, with millions of amazing birds flying hundreds, or even thousands, of miles to their northern nesting sites. Many won’t make it because of window collisions. You can help curtail the deaths, especially if you live or work in a high-rise building near the lake.
From now through the end of May, keep blinds or curtains closed, put removable decals on your windows (you’ll need a lot of them to make a difference), and mostly, turn out your lights at night. Tall office and residential buildings kill many thousands of birds annually — the birds can’t see or understand glass, and interior lights make them think they can fly right through. They migrate at night, so this is when the most damage happens. In early morning, Chicago’s sidewalks are often littered with dead or injured songbirds, a heartbreaking sight. Volunteer collision monitors are out at dawn, collecting bodies and sometimes birds that are still alive and can be saved.
Last year, McCormick Place killed about 1,000 birds in one night because the lights were left on. Save electricity; save lives! Turn off the lights at night during migration.
If you are out early and see an injured bird, gently put it in a paper bag, like a grocery bag, or a craft paper box and close it in. Then immediately call the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors at 773-988-1867. Some birds are just stunned and can be rehabbed to continue their journey if given the proper treatment.
— Nancy Burhop, Evanston
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
