We’ve lost control of our border, and that’s no way to run a country

I try to avoid political (and other) labels, because people will usually have different understandings of what they mean, and communication is hampered.

But for the sake of this letter, and to respond to your editorial “South Shore residents angry about migrant shelter would make MAGA proud,” I will identify as MAGA.

I/we don’t have a problem with immigration/migrants per se. I/we just have a few basic requests:

1) We should know who is coming in. I have a 1949 textbook on government, and they had a 14-point checklist for all immigrants. We had a right of refusal. We forget that our elected officials’ first responsibility is to the citizens of the United States. You wouldn’t give your kids’ college fund to a homeless person. Charity is always what people willingly give, usually from their surplus.

2) Everybody entering our country should have a medical exam and a background check. Look at all the precautions we took with COVID about traveling, for example. Now all that is ignored.

How many criminals should we allow into our country? Of course, most people are nice, honest, and hard-working, but should we allow one criminal out of a 100 into our country? The point is, we just don’t know who is coming in.

More than two million people entered our country in 2022 alone. What percentage of those people would be criminals? How is this in the best interest of our country?

3) We should only allow however many people we can assimilate. Chicago is complaining about the people who have been sent here by Texas. They are dealing with a hundred times that number.

The fact is our immigration/migrant system is broken. We have lost control of our border, and that is no way to run a country.

Larry Craig, Wilmette

Proper public toilet facilities for Chicago public transit

I wanted to give a shout out to all drivers and operators of CTA vehicles. In the past, many of these workers had complained of a lack of facilities on their route or unclean and unsafe portable toilets.

I was sorely disappointed when the new stations came to the 95th Street Red Line. There was not a toilet facility in site. A commuter — and CTA train operator — can travel from 95th Street to Howard, which takes well over an hour, and have no access to toilet facilities.

I understand that public rest rooms, especially in transit stations, can be misused. One stall at the La Salle Street METRA station has been out of service for well over a year. The locking mechanism was pulled completely out of the wall.

Still, the existence of public facilities or lack of thereof, show how transit agencies feel about their riders.

Janice Gintzler, Crestwood

Judicial system delaying justice for ComEd four

Ever heard of “justice delayed is justice denied?” I think of that as I read the federal judge is now waiting until January 2024 just to sentence the four Com Ed convicted felons. And remember, after he sentences them, they are usually given two to six more months to report to prison.

So for crimes committed a decade ago, I guess what’s another year or so? Ho hum. And we wonder why so many people question and criticize our judicial system?

In short, why the long delay? If it’s to give an appellate court ample time to reverse the convictions, it surely seems like special treatment.

William Choslovsky, Sheffield Neighbors