Retired Chicago journalists raised a collective alarm over unlawful ICE dragnets.
Their open letter — “You know us” — uses decades of earned trust to warn the public.
Chicago communities have responded with solidarity, resistance, and mutual protection.
Edwin Eisendrath and Phil Ponce, long-time host of “Chicago Tonight,” a weekly television magazine on WTTW-TV, begin from a shared place of moral clarity about ICE’s draconian tactics in the city. Phil spearheaded an effort of local journalists to push back in a powerful letter to the public that began with the words: “You know us.” The letter becomes a reminder that credibility isn’t a keepsake — it’s a tool, and when a city sees neighbors seized for civil offenses, that tool has to be used. What stands out is how quickly ordinary Chicagoans converted fear into strategy: whistles as warning systems, school runs as acts of protection, and food drives as quiet refusals to let intimidation decide who gets to move freely.
You can read the full letter from Chicago’s veteran journalists here! And tune in for the full conversation!
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