People gather during a vigil where Alex Pretti was shot and killed by federal immigration enforcement in Minneapolis, on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Re: Sanctuary status is the problem
It seems that red states are being lauded for their smoothness in arresting immigrants. It reminds me of the smoothness of Joseph Stalin's starvation of an estimated 19 million Ukrainians, or Adolf Hitler's concentration camps, which many allies had no idea even truly existed. Maybe smoothness isn't the best way to run a country of so much diversity, as it can become the eye of the hurricane. Hiding the terrible storm that rages unseen until it is upon you. Sanctuary isn't the problem. The problem stems from the desire for smoothness in a world of randomly ordered chaos. Like a drug that smooths out pain only to create addiction. ICE agents who can't handle harassment without losing their cool and murdering protesters shouldn't have a badge. Let's not blame those who wish to have compassion rule the day over those who simply are willing to live the life of Riley, while others suffer in silence, or that hurricane may finally catch you unaware.
Dan Pendergrass
West side
Sue who?
So President Trump is going to sue the IRS for $10 billion. Yay! Go get 'em! I mean, who has any sympathy for the IRS? The small problem with this is the IRS's money is our money. If he wins his suit, it will cost you, me and everyone else who pays taxes in the country (Approximately 154 million of us) about $65 apiece. This for a guy who ran as someone so rich he wouldn't have to take a salary. Oh, he's going to give it to charity! Sure pal. We believe you. On a side note: The US national debt grew roughly $2.35 trillion over the past year or $15,260 per taxpayer.
Guy Rovella
Midtown
No ICE near polls
The framers of the Constitution mandated that states, not the federal government, run elections.
Looking ahead to November, the Arizona Legislature should pass laws making it illegal for any federal police to be within ¼ mile of a polling place. It’s a matter of states' rights.
Mitch Bunting
Midtown
Daily Star reporting
The Daily Star’s decision to relegate the story of the president’s racist meme of the Obamas to a small article on Page 3 was both embarrassing and disgusting. When every major national news source in the country gave his appalling racism meticulous attention, you assumed Arizonans wouldn’t care?
Your multiple, sensational articles about the kidnapping should not have knocked this horrifying news to Page 3. Your choice of what to report and where to place the article makes the Star look like a rag, not a serious news source.
April Hoffman
Oro Valley
Legislature's silly season
Thanks, Michael Chihak, for spotlighting the time-wasting, goofy, and inconsequential bills spawned at the Arizona Legislature. The November 2026 Voter Education guide should assign an appropriate number of tinfoil hats or propeller beanies next to the bill sponsors running for reelection.
Sheldon Clark
Vail
Deepening dictatorship
Trump's billionaires censoring journalists and closing newspapers, it destroys freedom; it's despotism.
Trump slandering with racial slurs; it's despicable, it's disgusting.
Trump giving pardons and government favors to financial contributors, it's not fair; it's bribery, it's corruption.
Trump suing the government he controls for $10 billion, it's not moral, it's not right; it's theft.
Trump's military jailing and deporting children without judicial process, it's not American; it's fearful repression.
Trump's thugs killing civilians, it's not protection; it's murder, it's evil.
Trump's agents taking control of state ballots, it's not democracy; it's dictatorship.
These actions are not normal; they must not be accepted as normal.
Dictatorship is not some vague danger; it's a growing presence.
Fair-minded, freedom-loving, democracy-protecting, courageous citizens must speak out now and resist in every way we can.
Bruce Joffe
South side
Immigrants and citizens
Some thoughts on Tom McGorray's latest pontifications ... 1) it's pretty hard to function here and "keep the laws from the old country," whatever he means by that; 2) Muslim fathers beating their daughters? Not sure here either, but do American fathers never abuse their children?; 3) From what I've encountered, a whole bunch of citizens can barely speak the English language, nor do they know much of our history (lots of which Republicans are trying to erase anyway; 4) No data I can find supports that immigrants are involved in significantly more traffic accidents than citizens; 5) Lots of citizens are "on welfare for years," Tom; 6) Data seems to indicate that most money "sent to the home country" is earned by immigrants, not taxpayer money; 6) certainly lots and lots of citizens have "criminal records" in this country. In short, it seems McGorray wants to hold immigrants to a far higher standard than he expects of our own citizens.
Hope Gastelum
East side
From the editor column
Thank you for your editorial on an event that meant a lot to our community. You captured the sadness and also the celebration of a Sefer Torah. This brought renewal and strength to us. Once again,
Thank you.
Andrew Kunsberg
East side
Raise the sales tax?
Once the sales tax is reduced by a half-percent (with the defeat of the RTA propositions), how likely is it that Tucsonans will vote to raise it back up again for a “better” transit plan? If we couldn’t vote to fund police and fire last year, we’re not going to be funding bike lanes next year. The best is the enemy of the good.
George Timson
Midtown
The crime we do not want to name
What has been missing from the news coverage of this terrible story of kidnapping of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie is attention to the person at its center, an elderly woman whose age, body and daily realities mattered long before any crime occurred.
The chatter goes on about desert neighborhoods, the ransom notes, botched investigations, but we rarely pause to reflect on what it means to be in one’s eighties, to live with limited mobility, medical devices, and a body that no longer offers wide margins of safety. Aging is not just a number. It is a narrowing of options, a dependence on routine, trust and familiar space.
Those of us who have cared for aging parents or spent time among the elderly know this intimately.
This story should prompt more than fear or outrage. It should prompt reflection on how we see older people, how we protect them, and how easily their humanity disappears once they become part of a headline. Why is that?
Deborah Kaye
Foothills
Maybe you could help me?
Opponents of Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) Next say we should “demand better,” that it’s a “ripoff for Tucson residents,” and we should get a “more sustainable plan” if only by “pausing briefly.”
So, what would that look like?
After getting the Arizona Legislature to approve a funding mechanism, you’ll need to hold public meetings, establish a consensus of priority projects, arrange for an election, and raise funds to support a successful voter campaign to pass your plan; no easy task when you consider that, before RTA-1 finally passed in 2006, Tucson-area transportation plans were shot down four times.
It would seem Pima County voters would not have an opportunity to approve an alternative plan for at least 2 to 4 years, and maybe longer. This does not look like “pausing briefly.”
Vote “Yes” through the mail by March 10 on Props. 418 and 419 for $2.67 billion in transportation improvements with no new taxes. (Details: rtanext.com)
Stephen Yozwiak
Northwest side
Amazon and Washington Post layoffs
I am a longtime user of Amazon. I subscribe to Amazon Prime and have 1,757 Amazon receipts dating back to 2009. I am canceling my Amazon Prime membership in protest of scheduled layoffs at the Washington Post, as reported by Politico. If Jeff Bezos, the fourth-richest man in the world, is concerned about raking in profits from a newspaper which has stood out for years as a rock of independent journalism, then he should not be the owner of the Washington Post. He should sell it to someone who is not solely interested in profits. Meanwhile, I will buy from some market other than Amazon.
Robert White
Foothills
Follow these steps to easily submit a letter to the editor or guest opinion to the Arizona Daily Star.
