World Refugee – From a childhood memory of a 1956 cicada invasion in Garfield Park to concerns about the U.S. refugee system after the dismantling of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, readers weigh in—along with sharp arguments about where the Bears belong and what a Trump
Garfield Park is supposed to be a place of ordinary afternoons. But the writer remembers the morning the neighborhood stopped feeling ordinary.
In 1956, when the city was invaded by what he and his friends called locusts, the blocks looked normal at first. Then. a few days later. it felt as if the Earth “had come alive.” The insects covered the sidewalks. streets and playgrounds. On hot afternoons. the buzzing filled the air. starting like a distant hum and growing into a sound so loud it seemed to come from the sky. “There were billions of them,” he wrote, describing insects crawling, flying, buzzing and singing in every direction.
Adults walked on them making crunching sounds without much concern. Children stared in amazement. Birds feasted, and dogs chased. The writer remembers wondering whether the adults were wrong when they told children, “Don’t worry. They’ll be gone soon.” He couldn’t understand how something this abundant could disappear quickly.
Then, almost suddenly, it did. The buzzing grew quieter. Fewer insects clung to the trees. The sidewalks were swept clean. and “before long” the neighborhood felt hard to reconcile with the weeks earlier when it had been covered. What happened to them. he said. followed the cicadas’ life cycle: they emerged from the ground. filled the air with songs. found mates. laid eggs and died; their tiny offspring dropped from the trees. burrowed into the soil and remained underground for 17 years before emerging again. Life returned to normal.
Seventy years later, he still sees himself standing in Garfield Park, looking out at billions of cicadas and wondering if the world had changed forever—before concluding that some memories can feel permanent even when they’re not. The letter is signed “Bill Sipple, Belmont Cragin.”
Another reader’s account turns from childhood wonder to what happens when a country’s support systems pull back.
Writing under the name “Ali Tarokh. director of development. Syrian Community Network. ” the reader described arriving in Chicago 13 years ago as a refugee. with paperwork from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The writer recalled being “full of fear and hope,” fearful of a new society, new people and a new culture.
A refugee, the writer quoted from the U.N., is someone forced to flee due to persecution, war or violence. The U.N. definition included “a well-founded fear of persecution” for reasons of race. religion. nationality. political opinion or membership in a particular social group—along with the statement that many refugees cannot return home or are afraid to do so. The writer also cited global displacement figures: of the 117 million people forcibly displaced worldwide. by the end of 2025 only 35.6 million were registered as refugees. and 9 million were seeking asylum.
The letter then pointed to U.S. policy from 1975 to 2016, saying the United States was a world leader in resettling refugees and admitted more than 3 million people. The writer referenced that many refugees went on to hold prominent positions. including the late former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
But the tone shifts sharply. The writer said the U.S. has “now lost much of its global standing” that helped it advance its interests in international institutions. The letter says the current administration dismantled the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, affecting not only refugees abroad but also many who have already been resettled in the country. The consequence described is that nonprofits and refugee resettlement agencies have been forced into mass layoffs—impacting mostly employees who are U.S. citizens—leaving refugee and immigrant communities with fewer services and less support.
On June 20. World Refugee Day. the writer said they thought about and honored fellow refugees who have lost their jobs and hope for a safer place to rebuild their lives. When “the system cannot offer solutions but has become the source of the problem. ” the writer wrote. it falls to people to support one another and ease each other’s pain.
Not all the letters look outward toward national policy. One is rooted in Chicago sports geography—and in resentment toward the idea of moving something that belongs.
Signed “William Choslovsky. Sheffield Neighbors. ” the argument targets a Bears stadium debate described as happening “between Hammond and Arlington Heights.” The writer compared the discussion to “a vegetarian debating between steak and chicken. ” calling it irrelevant and saying citizens have already lost.
The letter says the team is the Chicago Bears, not Illinois or Indiana Bears. It also traces the franchise’s origin, saying that after leaving Decatur, Illinois in 1919—when they were originally called the Staleys—and renaming themselves the Bears, they’ve played in Chicago for more than 100 years.
As for the proposed locations. the writer calls Hammond “actually closer to downtown than Arlington Heights. ” arguing that “between those two bad choices. who cares?” Hammond. the letter says. is fine. The writer adds that anyone thinking Arlington Heights is a big win is “gullible and being sold something.” The closing demand is blunt: the Bears “should be in Chicago.” If not. “move ‘em back to Decatur.”.
And in a final letter, one reader turns from policy and place to a portrait of political power—imagined through the shape of a proposed project.
Signed “Mike Levey. Deerfield. ” the letter says. “I’m sure that Donald Trump is planning his presidential center.” The writer’s vision includes rooms honoring the “insurrectionists” Trump pardoned and a “billionaires’ room. ” saying “no millionaires need apply.” The letter also claims there will be an “Epstein room. ” and says the library will consist of comic books Trump has read while he has been awake. It further says the library will include photos of “all the convicted criminals in his administration.”.
Taken together, the letters read like a snapshot of different kinds of change: a swarm that comes and goes, a system that can be dismantled, debates over where teams should belong, and rumors about what political power wants to memorialize.
cicadas Garfield Park 1956 U.S. Refugee Admissions Program World Refugee Day June 20 Syrian Community Network Chicago Bears stadium debate Hammond Arlington Heights Donald Trump presidential center letters to the editor