I am a high school teacher at Little Village Lawndale High School. La Villita currently faces a crisis few understand. The fear that once gripped our students due to gang violence years ago has returned. But as of the last few months, the threat wears a federal badge.
The gang violence has seemed to have been reduced in the community. But now U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents have become the new gang members. Their unmarked vehicles, raids and intimidation have our students and families living in constant fear. My students arrive at school terrified, their phones buzzing with alerts about federal agent sightings. They’ve witnessing the detention of neighbors. They are scared, angry and confused, just as many teens were decades ago when they crossed paths with gang members. The only difference is the uniform.
Two years ago, my school, and city, opened their hearts to immigrant newcomers bused from Texas and Florida. Our school created a special English class focused on language, belonging and emotional healing after unthinkable traumas. My class became a family as we helped our new students feel at home in Chicago.
Those same states have since sent over officers to hunt them down, pulling parents away from their work, family and homes. U.S. Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino’s team may be leaving Chicago this week, but they could come back, and other federal agents remain.
A few days ago, one of my students was called into the principal’s office and informed that his father was detained by ICE agents at a gas station and shipped to a Texas facility overnight. When I saw that student the next week, he was unrecognizable. His light was gone; he was colder, quieter, broken in a way no teenager should ever be. He seemed to be burying his emotions to survive and be strong for his mother and sister. I was heartbroken.
I apologized to him. I was sorry the country I call home could inflict such pain. How can a city be so welcoming, yet belong to a nation so cruel? How can we teach when our students are being terrorized by the very people who claim to protect them?
ICE and Border Patrol are federally funded force spreading fear instead of safety. But as we’ve done in the past, we teachers will protect our students. When the world outside feels like a battlefield, the classroom must remain a sanctuary.
Luke Bigelow, Magnolia Glen
Bowman was warm distraction from bleak news
I am sure I am not the only subscriber who read Dale Bowman’s farewell column with a real sense of sadness. But as I took in the Sun-Times with my morning coffee last weekend, the newspaper felt less sunny. Bowman’s reports on Illinois outdoors provided an important counterweight to news from the pavement.
As I read the paper, I felt more dejected reading about Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling spinning a fish story, defending his “partner in crime” Patrol Commander Jon Hein — against the people they are supposed to serve and protect. Right then, I wished I could flip a few pages and read about a young kid’s first whopper.
Here’s hoping you find Bowman’s replacement — and soon.
Mark Lipscomb McKinley Park
CPS needs a hometown CEO
Each time we’ve brought in an outsider to the Chicago Public Schools, they’ve left it worse off. The most recent example is the privatization king Paul Vallas, aka “Vallas the Vampire.” I know we have plenty of talent among CPS administrators. Please choose a CEO who knows CPS and our city.
Forget the carpetbaggers — they are guaranteed to do more harm than good.
Muriel Balla, Kenwood