Chuy Garcia's career centered on uplifting Latino community
U.S. Rep. Jesus "Chuy" Garcia has spent his entire public life fighting for immigrant families like mine — families this country routinely overlooks. His legacy is not theoretical. It is lived and measurable, and it has reshaped futures for people like us. Long before it was trendy to call yourself "progressive," he was doing the work and centering people everyone else treated as expendable.
My mother became a U.S. citizen because Chuy encouraged her to take that step, which opened doors that had been shut before, giving us the stability that so many immigrants hope for but rarely receive. I often think of that moment and Chuy's belief that people like my mother belong.
Chuy’s story is our story. Born in Durango, Mexico, he built his career from scratch and carried our community with him every step of the way. In every office he's held, dignity for immigrants has been nonnegotiable. He has fought for protections for undocumented workers and pushed for resources that reflect the contributions Latinos have made and continue to make to the U.S. While some in Congress see immigrants as bargaining chips, he treats them as family. Where others paint immigration as a threat, he sees it a source of strength.
Recent political attacks against Chuy for dropping out of his reelection race are not grounded in principle and are part of a larger pattern that punishes Latino leaders who stand firmly with working families and immigrant communities. While pundits and opportunistic politicians clutch their pearls for the cameras, they stay silent as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement tears apart neighborhoods, tramples our rights and terrorizes the very people Chuy has always defended.
When immigrants are once again treated as targets, we cannot afford amnesia about what real leadership looks like. It looks like a congressman who resides in Little Village — a neighborhood ICE has relentlessly targeted — and keeps organizing, fighting and showing up even when the cameras aren't around. Real leadership looks like someone who never forgot where he came from, still speaks to us in our language and treats our community as his starting point, not a prop.
Chuy’s legacy lives in the millions he has uplifted, including my mother. If we want a country that treats immigrants with dignity, we need leaders like Chuy and more Latinos like him at the table. I know I am not alone when I say I will always honor Chuy's governance and focus on equity and access.
Monica Trevino, Oak Park
Trump thoughts
Instead of killing those alleged drug smugglers, why doesn’t President Donald Trump just pardon them? Of course they would have to contribute to the MAGA Relief Fund.
Also, I would rather live next door to a Somalian family then the Trump family, unless the head of the Somalian family is a convicted criminal, racist, abuser of women, a bully and chronic liar. In that case I would have to move.
Michael Levey, Deerfield
Political circus
Who's afraid of President Donald Trump? All of the cowardly Republicans in Congress, that’s who. They would rather sell their country down the tubes than go against their main clown.
You hire a clown and what do you get? A circus. A complete disgrace to most Americans, except MAGAs. They think everything is great.
Robert Meder, Romeoville