Dear Chicago,
You were my second home for nearly 15 years. I still love you deeply. And today, watching ICE raids tear through your neighborhoods, I feel nothing but heartbreak and shame.
I’m writing to apologize for something I did in 2016, right after Trump’s first election win. In anger over what I saw in the exit polls, especially support for Trump among some Latino voters, I lashed out. I posted the ICE tip line on Facebook. No context. Just the number.
My implication was clear: You voted for him, now face the consequences. I knew full well what that meant: indiscriminate deportations, families torn apart, brown communities terrorized. I wanted to punish an entire group out of political rage. That post wasn’t clever or satirical. It was cruel.
Most people in my circle laughed it off. but at least one person I know actually used the number. I helped feed a machine I now find morally indefensible. That will always haunt me.
“I was angry, but that doesn’t excuse what I did. It was selfish. It was wrong. I’m sorry.”
Fast forward to today, and the reality is even worse than I feared: raids, convoys, masked officers jumping out of vans, helicopters over neighborhoods, and families disappearing into the system. Not just immigrants — citizens too. Black, white, brown, no one is untouched by the fear.
This isn’t just policy. It’s terror.
And what’s horrifying is how many Americans are numb to it, or worse, supportive. It’s like we’ve stepped into a dystopian movie, and the audience is cheering.
If you’re not disturbed by this moment in history, something is wrong. I know something was wrong with me when I helped enable it, even for a moment.
I was angry. But that doesn’t excuse what I did. It was selfish. It was wrong.
I’m sorry.
This commentary was originally published in Word in Black. It has been edited for style and length. For more information, visit www.wordinblack.com.