Written October 29, 2025 — covering the events and commentary from October 28.
TL;DR: Don’t gas school blocks, don’t turn training into a presidential fireworks show, stop lying about “open borders,” and don’t starve people while we fix wages, housing, and access. Compassion ≠ weakness.
Chicago • Live bombs • Immigration myths • SNAP & disability • Bottom line
Today was busy, and I didn’t expect to have much to say. Then the news kept rolling in.
Chicago: Tear Gas Near a School
Federal immigration agents used tear gas on a block with an elementary school and a children’s play café. Why are we doing anything like this anywhere near kids? The core question is simple: at what cost are we going after immigrants? If your tactics put chemical agents into school zones, you’re the problem, not the solution.
I keep hearing that agents move masked and in unmarked trucks “for their protection.” Okay—where’s the protection for the people they’re grabbing, or for the children and bystanders on the sidewalk? If teams insist on masks, then accountability is non-negotiable: visible badges, body-worn cameras switched on, and clear, audible warnings before any so-called crowd-control weapon is used. A federal judge has already ordered exactly that after multiple incidents—including tear gas outside a school and even near a kids’ Halloween event. Near children is a hard red line.
Sources
- AP: reporting on tear gas near Funston Elementary in Logan Square, with families and schoolchildren affected.
- CBS Chicago: masked agent in unmarked SUV throws tear-gas canisters half a block from Funston Elementary.
- Reuters: Judge Sara Ellis orders visible ID, warnings before tear-gas use, and body cameras for agents operating in Chicago.
- Reuters follow-up on intensified court oversight and hearing.
Live Bombs for a Presidential Show
The Navy’s 250th-anniversary demonstration used live, 2,000-pound bombs instead of inert practice rounds because the president “needed to see explosions.” The U.S. military does not exist to give Donald Trump a show. We don’t need pyrotechnics to prove America’s strength. That reads like political theater, not sound military judgment.
It’s also wasteful and dangerous. Live munitions cost more and require added safety protocols; inert practice bombs exist precisely so crews can train without blowing things up. If it’s truly training, do it under standard rules at a range—don’t bend safety for a photo-op. Supporters will say “they would have dropped the live bombs anyway.” Fine—then do it the standard way, at the standard place, following standard risk controls, not re-scripted for a presidential spectacle.
Sources
Immigration Memes and “Open Border” Myths
The flood of memes claiming “20 million invaders” and an “open border” is nonsense. There is no open border—there never has been in modern U.S. history. Border enforcement is real, funded, and busy. The best estimate for the undocumented population is roughly 14 million nationwide, many of whom have lived here for years in mixed-status families, working and raising kids.
The crime scare stories don’t match the data, either. Large studies consistently find immigrants—documented and undocumented—are less likely to be convicted of crimes than U.S.-born citizens. And the big “encounters” numbers people throw around include turn-backs, expulsions, and repeat attempts. That’s enforcement at work, not a door propped open. The “invasion” talk is political fear-mongering designed to make people angry and keep them that way.
Sources
- Pew Research Center: unauthorized immigrant population reached about 14 million in 2023.
- How Pew estimates that number (methodology explainer).
- Axios explainer: the “open border” claim is a myth; the U.S. has not had an open border since the early 1920s.
- Cato analysis of Texas DPS data: immigrants are less likely to be convicted of crimes than U.S.-born people.
- DHS Office of Homeland Security Statistics: what “CBP encounters” actually count.
- CRS brief on apprehensions/expulsions to clarify “encounters” vs outcomes.
SNAP, Disability, and Basic Decency
I’m disabled, and there were seasons in my adult life when SNAP (food stamps) kept me from hitting the end of the month with nothing. I’ve lived in Arizona, Florida, and Michigan, and what I qualified for changed with where I was and what I earned.
After big storms in Florida, the state issued temporary disaster benefits; that extra help mattered for people who lost power and food. I’m grateful for the safety net, just like I’m grateful for subsidized housing and the voucher I’ve used—because in places like Phoenix or Traverse City, rent is brutal and waitlists are endless. Not everyone gets into housing. Not everyone has a family who can float them. Some folks are paying full market rent on nothing but a small disability check and sheer grit.
Right now my fiancé and I don’t get SNAP, and that’s fine; our income probably puts us over the line. But I know families who will be hit hard if benefits are cut. I also know disabled people paying more in rent than we do and living on less. Some live on nothing but SSI, which is not much. Try covering rent, food, and meds on that—then tell me “people are just loafing.”
Yes, a few people abuse any program, and that should be investigated and stopped. But most SNAP households include a child, a senior, or a disabled adult. The program is doing exactly what it’s supposed to do: help people who need help buy food. And on the work question: only about one in four disabled adults are employed in a typical year. That’s not a moral failing; it’s barriers—hiring bias, transportation, accessibility, and health. Some can work with the right support. Some can’t. Both groups still need to eat.
Here’s what really gets me: the hypocrisy. I’ve heard people trash “welfare” on Monday and tell a struggling relative to “apply for food stamps, that’s what it’s there for” on Tuesday. Exactly. That is what it’s there for. Because life happens. A layoff, a diagnosis, a car crash—and in an instant, you or someone you love can need the very help you mocked.
Sources
- FRAC summary of USDA data: about 86% of SNAP benefits go to households with a child, an older adult, or a person with a disability.
- CRS brief on fraud vs error: fraud is rare; errors are not the same as fraud.
- GAO on improper payments (context on program integrity; “improper” is broader than fraud).
- USDA press release approving D-SNAP for Florida after Hurricane Irma.
- Florida DCF: Disaster Food Assistance Program details after Irma.
- SSI maximum federal payment amounts (to illustrate how little many disabled people live on).
- BLS: in 2024, the employment-population ratio for people with a disability was about 22.7%.
Compassion is not weakness. It’s adulthood.
Bottom Line
We can secure the border without gassing school blocks. We can train the military without turning it into a presidential spectacle. We can tell the truth about immigrants instead of marinating in fear. And we can show basic compassion by keeping people from going hungry while we fix the real problems—wages, housing, healthcare, and accessibility.
Notes from the edge of the system 