For more than an hour, I answered questions, and then I stayed in the
parking lot for another hour and talked with people who still had
questions--and some were heartbreaking. A public school teacher I have known for years asked me how she can
help her students. Her kids are being kept out of school or are losing
sleep or are displaying signs of depression because of the fear that
they have that they will be separated from their parents if they are
deported. She wants to comfort them, but the reality is she cannot. Individuals asked me how they can protect families who are terrified
that they will get separated and destroyed. Just this week, a mother I have known for years who has a stay of
deportation and has been regularly reporting to ICE officials for years
told me she is being deported in 6 weeks. She has a U.S. citizen
husband and four U.S. citizen children, and she has complied with the
law and she has complied and reported to authorities, only to be told
that, under Trump, the rules have changed and she is now a top priority
for deportation--not because she should be deported, but because she
can be deported. This fear is having an impact on families and children. But what came
through to me at the townhall meeting is that families, vulnerable
immigrants, and millions of children with a birthright to live as
Americans are not alone. There are thousands and thousands of allies
who are joining together to defend families in Chicago and everywhere
else. At the townhall on Monday, I appealed for help because this is the
very same room that this coming Saturday, Mr.
Keywords matched
deported immigrants deportation