1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

I am writing to you in shock and outrage over what took place in Chicago this week. Thirty-seven people were arrested and American children were torn from their parents during an ICE raid that looked more like a military assault than a law enforcement operation. Eyewitnesses described helicopters circling overhead, armored vehicles filling the streets, and agents storming apartment buildings in the middle of the night. Residents — including U.S. citizens — were dragged from their homes, crying and terrified. One neighbor said what he saw “was an invasion.” Another said she had “never had a gun in her face” before that night. This is not how a democracy behaves. This is what we expect to see in a police state. The Department of Homeland Security admits that the raid was part of “Operation Midway Blitz,” under which more than 800 people have already been arrested since early September. The South Shore apartment building targeted in this latest action was left with shattered windows, hallways littered with debris, and families devastated. According to reports, even U.S. citizens were detained, questioned, and handcuffed. Four American children were taken into federal custody simply because their parents were undocumented. These children — U.S. citizens — were zip-tied and led away from their families as if they were criminals. Governor Pritzker condemned the operation, calling it what it is: a gross violation of due process, civil rights, and human decency. Federal agents are “snatching up families, scaring law-abiding residents, violating due process rights, and even detaining U.S. citizens.” This cannot be tolerated. This is not public safety — it is state-sanctioned terror. When federal agents invade homes in the middle of the night, separate children from their parents, and detain citizens without cause, we are no longer operating under the rule of law. We are witnessing the normalization of authoritarianism — actions chillingly reminiscent of regimes our nation once fought against. We urge you, as our elected representative, to: 1. Demand a full investigation into the South Shore ICE raid and “Operation Midway Blitz.” 2. Hold the Department of Homeland Security accountable for the unconstitutional detention of U.S. citizens. 3. End all operations that terrorize immigrant and Black communities under the guise of public safety. 4. Ensure protections for children and families, regardless of immigration status. This is not who we are supposed to be. We cannot stand by while federal forces brutalize our neighbors and traumatize our communities. Silence in the face of this kind of government abuse makes us complicit. I ask you to speak out and act — before this country slides further into the darkness of fear and cruelty