Letters: Man's deportation to El Salvador begs the question: Who's next?
If Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem can berate immigrants in a blatantly political TV ad paid for by American taxpayers, staged in front of a maximum-security prison, then President Donald Trump's administration can certainly utilize some of the same strongarm tactics on the El Salvador government that it used to lawlessly snatch an individual who had a legal right to be in the U.S.
Who will be next? You? Members of the legitimate press? Is this morally corrupt crowd determined to ignore constitutional obligations rather than ever admit a mistake?
A U.S. District judge's order demanding immediate return of the individual was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but even that process begs the question: How can any executive branch malfeasance be punished when its criminal enforcement apparatus consists of loyalists, not patriots? Didn't we get rid of loyalists in the Revolutionary War? This appears to be a fatal flaw in American democracy that is only now being exploited by a president.
Two Saturdays ago, citizens and immigrants across the country gathered and marched — including tens of thousands in downtown Chicago and the suburbs. The Tribune published a news report on Page 2 of Sunday's paper ('Thousands rally, march for national 'Hands Off!' protest') — no doubt written quickly to meet a looming print deadline. And the Illinois Republican Party — true to its abdication of democratic principles — dismissed the participants as a 'tantrum' by 'paid actors' in a statement.
Both would do well to note some of the heartfelt emotion emerging on 'Hands Off!' signs these people crafted individually. They were responding to overt threats by the administration and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency henchmen against unions, courts, the Constitution, media, public lands, wealth (decimated by thimble-brained tariffs), free speech, voting rights and federal personnel cuts that are severely handicapping responsiveness at the Social Security Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Weather Service, Internal Revenue Service, Food and Drug Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency and agencies that pay farmers for food, handle Medicaid payments and process veterans' health claims.
Anyone immersed in these widespread protests with memories of 1968 felt anger, but also profound sadness that they had to be there at all in 2025, especially realizing that right now, this is not the country whose freedoms thousands of American soldiers have died for.
— Bob Johnston, Chicago
Right to due process
The idea of the president of the United States renting space in a foreign prison known for torture and disappearing people into it without due process is appalling.
He's having people scooped up and sending them out for indeterminate detention in a place that neither Congress nor U.S. courts have jurisdiction over, and neither, apparently, does he if he can't get them back.
Every person in the USA, not just citizens, has a right to due process. And this ain't it! Allow a tyrant to trample on any person's rights, and you put your rights in his hands.
Bring them all back and deport those who warrant deportation using the legal deportation process.
— Tom Madden, Oak Park
Trump's Hokey Pokey
My head is spinning. I don't think I am alone. I feel like I'm at a bad wedding reception.
President Donald Trump puts the tariffs in. He takes the tariffs out. He puts the tariffs in, and he shakes us all about. We do the tariff Hokey Pokey, and he turns us all around. That's what he's all about?
Yes! He keeps everyone off-kilter so they won't know what's happening until it's too late.
— Pam Skinner, Palatine
Hefty tariffs on China
President Donald Trump will be the Grinch who stole Christmas with his exorbitant tariffs on China. Many toys come from China, which people will not be able to afford, and many business, such as the one my husband works for, will be put out of business.
— Gail Frank, Lakewood, Illinois
Pelosi deserves scrutiny
Why is the Tribune Editorial Board ('Should Trump be giving stock tips to his followers?' April 11) and U.S. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., so inimical to anyone stating the obvious about stocks? Buy low and sell high.
Instead, they should direct their rancor to investigating U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who is suspected of insider trading that has enriched her by millions of dollars.
— David N. Simon, Chicago
Control over the SEC
While investors cheered the recovery of the stock market Wednesday, is it time for investigators at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to become curious? President Donald Trump instigated tremendous volatility in the markets. With insider information, Trump's allies could have enriched themselves by purchasing securities, such as put options, right before the collapse, then call options right before the rebound.
The SEC has strict rules prohibiting this breach of ethics. Trump has sought to put the SEC under his direct control, according to The Associated Press. Doesn't that leave a fox to protect the henhouse?
— Chris Rudolph, Libertyville
Actions taken at SSA
The Social Security Administration has a 90-year history of being one of the most dependable, efficiently managed programs in our government, with both overhead and fraud each at less than 1% of benefits paid. Yet President Donald Trump sent an unelected Elon Musk, under the guise of seeking fraud, to dismantle the agency to the point of dysfunction.
The nonsense about 'making the federal government more efficient without compromising mission-critical operations,' being spewed daily, should not pass muster for anyone with a brain cell ('Pressure building at Social Security,' in print April 11).
The public outcry has been loud and swift, but so far ineffective.
In fact, the last sentence of the article (which I had to reread to believe) describes the White House's remedy for all the blowback over the real-life hardships being caused: reduce the information administrators put online that could draw attention to any problems.
We are indeed in for a rough ride.
— Therese Kane, Oak Park
Suffering of the innocent
The president has stopped most programs funded through the U.S. Agency for International Development 'for the convenience of the U.S. government,' accusing them of being wasteful and advancing liberal causes. Since when is helping the most vulnerable citizens of our world with their critical needs for water, food, medical care, shelter and education a liberal cause?
I find it gut-wrenching to think of the incredible suffering and death that this will cause to totally innocent people in the coming months and years.
I find it despicable.
— Veronica Foss, Schaumburg
Costly trips to Florida
Four trips President Donald Trump took to Mar-a-Lago cost close to $14 million, according to a Government Accountability Office report.
If Trump truly cared about saving the taxpayers money, he would spend most of his weekends in the Washington, D.C., area.
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