On the first day of school Chicago Mayor Rahm “you never want a serious crisis to go to waste” Emanuel (shown) welcomed students back from summer break to Solorio Academy High School, giving them comfort that, under his administration, they won’t be deported for being in the country illegally. His comments were timed perfectly to respond to President Trump’s declaration that the Obama administration’s illegal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — DACA — was being terminated. It is estimated that about a third of the students attending Solorio are in the country illegally.
Said Mayor Emanuel, “To all the Dreamers that are here in this room and in the city of Chicago: You are welcome in the city of Chicago. This is your home. And you have nothing to worry about. Chicago, our schools, our neighborhoods, our city, as it relates to what President Trump said, will be a Trump-free zone. You have nothing to worry about. And I want you to know this, and I want your families to know this. And rest assured, I want you to come to school … and pursue your dreams.”
Comfort to those stressed about the possibility of being deported was extended to them by Chicago’s CEO Forrest Claypool as well: “This school is a sanctuary. We do not allow federal agents on these grounds and in this building. You are safe and secure here, to learn, to grow, and to pursue your dreams, and we hope that you do so.”
The Chicago Sun-Times sided with the Dreamers and felt their pain. The paper interviewed Aide Acosta, the head of a private college scholarship program just for undocumented students, who said, “It’s been very stressful for students as a whole and of course for parents concerned for the well-being of their children as well.” She added, “Some of them are stressed out, some are feeling anxious.… We’ve been worried about them since [last] November, not only in terms of losing families. The fear for all CPS (Chicago Public Schools) was the fear that some of these children would be abandoned because of these targets around deportation. I feel fortunate that we live in Chicago and we live in a city that’s very supportive of immigrant families.”
The “Trump-free” environment has helped senior Sheyla Pena, an illegal who participates in the school’s Dreamers Club: “It’s helped me feel free about my status. I feel like we’re scared that something bad is going to happen if we tell people we’re undocumented [i.e., in the United States illegally] and the first thing that we think of is ‘Oh my God. We’re going to get deported.’ Or I worry that something I do could affect my family members.”
After all, goes the narrative, they didn’t really break any laws. If any were broken, it was their parents who broke them. So they deserve to be left alone to “pursue their dreams” at the expense of Chicago taxpayers, most of whom are here legally.
However, conservative author and commentator Michelle Malkin says there’s no such thing as a “deserving Dreamer”: “Over and over again, in countless cookie-cutter op-ed pieces published over the last month, so-called DREAMers have vociferously lamented Donald Trump’s push to eventually undo the unconstitutional five-year reprieves from deportation plus coveted work permits.”
Who deserves more, asked Malkin: the students being protected from the real world by miscreants such as Emanuel, or the country that is currently providing for them? What about veterans who’ve dedicated themselves to defending the nation who “are struggling to gain access to quality health care they’ve earned by action, not by accident or circumstance. Imagine their stress!”
What about the five million American young people between 16 and 34 who were “unemployed last year and 50 million more not even in the workforce. Imagine their anxiety!”
What about those waiting in line to enter the country legally? Noted Malkin, “Hundreds of thousands of law-abiding people from around the world are waiting patiently for their backlogged visa and green card applications to be reviewed. Imagine their frustration!”
The entire illegal-immigration question is a scam, according to Malkin: “The left-wing DREAM racket is a self-perpetuating political marketing machine. Its primary contribution to American society? Lashing out at how cruel, racist, ignorant and ungrateful the rest of us are for not bowing down before the hallowed angel children of the Obama administration’s amnesty program.”
It’s an upside-down world in Chicago and in its schools, thanks to panderers and criminals such as Emanuel who should be enforcing the law rather than encouraging its flaunting.
Photo: AP Images
An Ivy League graduate and former investment advisor, Bob is a regular contributor to The New American magazine and blogs frequently at LightFromTheRight.com, primarily on economics and politics. He can be reached at [email protected].
