Letters: Dr. Phil's presence among immigration agents in Chicago was about transparency
'People are scared' (Jan. 26) and 'We are terrified' (Jan. 27). These are recent print headlines in the Tribune referring to the apprehension of migrants, indicating that federal immigration agents are coming to take away every man, woman and child who are here illegally.
Dr. Phil McGraw went with a group of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to get the truth of what's actually taking place and what's not. He said the raids are not going into schools or sweeping through the neighborhoods and businesses. On the contrary, they're very targeted to get criminals who are here illegally out of our communities.
I think it's admirable that Dr. Phil is trying to make things more transparent and put all the rumors to rest. However, Tuesday's editorial does nothing but criticize Dr. Phil's efforts ('Really, Dr. Phil? Oprah's celebrity doctor debases himself in the very city that made him a star,'). I guess the Tribune Editorial Board would rather publish another sensational headline.
— Ralph Bellendir, Chicago
Golden Moutza for Dr. Phil
If indeed media personality Phil McGraw's presence alongside federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement was necessary for 'transparency' in Chicago, then I would like to know how much Dr. Phil intends to personally profit from his field trip with border czar Tom Homan. Does he plan on showing footage from his adventure on his reality television show? McGraw already posted a clip on his X account.
In the spirit of 'transparency,' I am curious to know what other celebrities were invited to attend the immigration enforcement blitz. Surely, there may be others as qualified as Dr. Phil to expose the righteousness of the raids to us befuddled citizens and taxpayers out here in the potential viewing audience.
I nominate McGraw for the Golden Moutza award of the month that was regularly mentioned by Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass for those who had 'distinguished' themselves with chutzpah and chicanery.
— Amy Pessis, Highland Park
Call it out for what it is
Regarding the editorial about Dr. Phil: Thank you for the spot-on editorial! We are in very dangerous times, so please keep calling it out for what it is.
— Elizabeth Murphy, Naperville
Aren't we better than this?
Thank you for the editorial about Dr. Phil. Are we not a better nation than that?
This kind of behavior always reminds me of these words by famed author Toni Morrison: 'If you can only be tall because someone else is on their knees, then you have a serious problem.'
You, Dr. Phil, have a serious problem.
— Debbie O'Donnell, Elmhurst
Government as reality TV
The president is doing a great job of what he is best at: dominating the news cycle and turning the government into a reality TV show.
Dr Phil and a TV crew joining immigration raids and Trump wanting to make Canada our 51s state, buy Greenland and seize the Panama Canal are no doubt entertaining for MAGA fans, but, other than the immigration crackdown, those things were not in his campaign promises.
The president stated on TV he was elected because of 'groceries,' yet since he took office, he hasn't focused on his promises. He said that once in office, grocery prices and egg prices would very quickly come down along with gas prices. He also promised he could end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours and could do that even before his inauguration.
The media are not asking why these promises haven't been kept but instead dutifully report on the shiny object of the day.
I would also like the media to ask when we will see his tax returns and medical report.
— Douglas Nyhus, Frankfort
Empowered by the hijab
Born in the East and raised in the West, I often find myself facing questions about my choice to wear the hijab. Growing up, I loved the concept of the head covering and other aspects of Muslim dressing. However, I often felt as if I had to remove my hijab to be perceived as a strong woman. The focus on appearance creates a cycle in which women are judged based on their looks. It leads to narrow definitions of empowerment that only encompass some women's experiences.
This societal pressure is not only harmful to women's sense of self-worth but also limits potential by making women feel that their value is primarily tied to how they look. What is empowering for one woman in a certain context can inadvertently harm or marginalize other women.
We need to create more inclusiveness by educating people about women's diverse experiences.
— Fateha Khalood, Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Stronger electoral system
Few Chicagoans will deny that the city's current two-round election system is deeply flawed. The system demands that voters, already weighed down by electoral fatigue and apathy, return to the polls for runoff elections. It also tends to promote a kind of 'strategic' mentality toward voting that discourages people from choosing their preferred candidates in favor of candidates who may appear more 'electable.' These are significant barriers to democratic participation.
Amid the rising tide of political uncertainty and disillusionment with electoral politics, Chicago has an opportunity to embrace a proactive solution to voter fatigue: ranked choice voting (RCV), also known as instant runoff voting. This alternative voting system offers a proven path to fairer elections, greater voter engagement and more representative government.
Ranked choice voting allows voters to rank multiple candidates by preference. If no candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and their voters' next preferences are redistributed. This process continues until one candidate secures a majority. RCV ensures that every vote matters and eliminates the need for costly runoffs, which can depress turnout and drain public funds.
RCV also addresses deeper issues of disenfranchisement and lack of representation. By empowering voters to select their true preferences without fear of 'wasting' their vote, RCV minimizes strategic voting and ensures election results more accurately reflect the will of the people. In other words, RCV is far more than a mere technical fix. Rather, it is a transformative reform with the potential to restore faith in the democratic process itself by ensuring that every voice is actually heard and that every ballot is cast for candidates voters believe in.
It is for these reasons that the League of Women Voters of Chicago has adopted an official position in support of RCV.
As a home-rule municipality, Chicago has the legal authority to adopt RCV. We have the power to join cities across Illinois, from Evanston to Peoria, that have embraced RCV with overwhelming voter support. Let's seize the opportunity to reimagine our democracy and build a stronger, more dynamic electoral system that can withstand whatever 21st century life has to throw at it.
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Los Angeles, specifically the liberal, upper-middle-class enclave of Santa Monica, is Miller's hometown, and it became the foil for his archconservative political identity. He is often described as the 'architect' of Trump's immigration policy, but his role as a political strategist—and chief provocateur—is much bigger than that. It is no fluke that Los Angeles is where Miller could most aggressively assert the ideas he champions in Trump's MAGA movement: mass deportations and a maximal assertion of executive power. No matter if it means calling out U.S. troops to suppress a backlash triggered by those policies. [Conor Friedersdorf: Averting a worst-case scenario in Los Angeles] 'Huge swaths of the city where I was born now resemble failed third world nations. A ruptured, balkanized society of strangers,' Miller wrote Monday on X. He was attacking Governor Gavin Newsom for suing to reverse the Trump administration's takeover of the California National Guard—the first time the government has federalized state forces since 1965. Trump has also called up 700 U.S. Marines. Miller was defending the use of force to subdue protesters, but he was really talking about something bigger in his hometown. This was a culture war, with real troops. What was the spark? On May 21, Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem brought the heads of ICE's regional offices to Washington for a dressing-down. Trump had promised the largest mass-removal campaign in U.S. history and wanted 1 million deportations a year. ICE officers had been making far more arrests in American communities than under Joe Biden, but they were well short of Trump's desired pace. Miller demanded 3,000 arrests a day—a nearly fourfold increase—and demoted several top ICE officials who weren't hitting their targets. Miller's push is just a warm-up. 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He likened the pain to a sprained ankle. 'I was born and raised in Los Angeles. I support, I love, I stand for America. I love the USA,' he told me. 'I'm here today to support our people of Los Angeles. That's it.' Some Democrats outside the state have chafed at the sight of protesters waving Mexican flags and those of other nations, which Trump officials have seized upon as evidence of anti-Americanism. Protesters told me the flags of their or their parents' home countries are not intended as a sign of loyalty to another nation. Quite a few protesters waved the Stars and Stripes too, or a hybrid of the American flag and their home country's. Hailey, a 23-year-old welder carrying a Guatemalan flag, told me she wanted to display her heritage at a protest that brought together people from all over. That was part of belonging to California, she said: 'I was born on American soil, but I just think it's appropriate to celebrate where my family is from. 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Newsom and Bass seem keen to avoid the price they would pay politically if that were to occur here, but for now they are caught between the need to suppress the violent elements of the protests and their desire to blame the White House for fanning the flames. [Anne Applebaum: This is what Trump does when his revolution sputters] Trump officials say they have delighted in the imagery of L.A. mayhem and foreign-flag waving, but they face a threat, too, if protests spread beyond blue California and become a nationwide movement. That would take pressure off Newsom and Bass. Doe Hain, a retired teacher I met in Pasadena this week holding a Save Democracy sign for passing motorists, told me that the ICE push into California symbolizes the worst fears of an authoritarian takeover by a president unfazed by the idea of turning troops against Americans. 'I don't really think I can protest the existence of ICE as a federal agency, but we can protest the way that they're doing things,' Hain said. 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