Over the past four weeks, I’ve remained close to home, venturing out only when Brad accompanies me. I’ve avoided meeting friends at coffee shops — spaces where ICE has targeted African Americans and immigrant communities. My doctoral work has been…
ICE rampage reminds state rep of his communist past
Having a masked immigration agent point a loaded gun at him was frightening enough for Illinois State Rep. Hoan Huynh, but just as terrifying were the memories it evoked from his previous life in a communist country. “I think back…
‘Never before have we seen this,’ Pritzker and Perryman agree
The politicization of democracy is one of the most disturbing precedents of Donald Trump’s second presidency, Democracy Forward President Skye Perryman said during a livestreamed conversation with Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. American democracy and constitutional freedoms never have endured the…
Most Americans now see Trump as a dangerous dictator
After months of data collection and analysis, we at PRRI have just released our 16th annual American Values Survey, conducted in partnership with our colleagues E.J. Dionne Jr. and Bill Galston at the Brookings Institution. Amid all the bad news, the new…
Amid ICE Raids, Korean American Churches Stay Quiet
When news broke last month that ICE had detained more than 300 Korean nationals at a Hyundai plant near Savannah, Georgia, Christina Shin took a break from posting reviews of beauty products and irreverent slice-of-life videos on TikTok to address the issue…
Jesus is being tear gassed at Broadview
What follows is an open letter from more than 100 Chicago-area clergy issued Friday, Oct. 17. “Can I use my pastoral expense account to buy a gas mask?” It’s a question dozens of Chicago pastors asked our church boards…
United Methodist pastor violently arrested in Chicago
United Methodist pastor Hannah Kardon of United Church of Rogers Park, Ill., was violently arrested along with eight others at a peaceful protest at the Broadview ICE facility this morning. Kardon was part of a clergy group that was to…
Why Trump has a National Police Force
In a previous column, I reported how President Donald Trump is under water on public approval ratings, showing the lowest first July approval rating of any president in the modern era. Today, six weeks later, he’s still under water. Donald…
In Chicago, Black and brown people are disappearing
The president of the United States has ordered an assault on Chicago. That assault is being carried out by a combination of groups — including uniformed Customs and Border Patrol officers, uniformed Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, and plainclothes men…
What I witnessed in Chicago: Day 1
When my editor called me Friday and asked if I’d like to fly to Chicago to cover what’s happening here, I, of course, said yes. News had just broken that a Presbyterian pastor had been shot in the head with…
Jim Jordan says ICE agents are ‘doing the Lord’s work’
ICE agents who are violently rounding up children from playgrounds and parents from city streets are “doing the Lord’s work,” according to U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, Republican from Ohio. His comments came three weeks after White House staffer Stephen Miller,…
Chicago pastor sues Trump after ICE assaults him while praying
A Presbyterian minister attacked by ICE agents during the peaceful protest of a Chicago-area migrant processing center has joined a lawsuit to stop the Trump administration’s violence against demonstrators and media. David Black, senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church of…