Immigrant advocates and Illinois legislators process Trump’s election – plan for resistance

State Sen. Celina Villanueva woke up Wednesday with the same painful feeling she had eight years ago when Donald J. Trump was first elected — a deep worry for the immigrant communities feeling stressed that Trump has been reelected to a second term.

She has a message of hope and resistance for the people feeling vulnerable at the prospect of a new Trump administration that has promised mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.

“In 2016, we thought that we were all going to be gone — and we’re still here,” Villanueva said.

Her message was echoed by 13 other Democratic state lawmakers on Wednesday at a news conference held by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights in Little Village. The legislators promised to keep Illinois one of the most welcoming states for immigrants.

Supporters held signs that read: “Unite, rise, resist,” “Together we rise” and “We got us.”

The group held a similar meeting eight years ago, in the same venue at Casa Michoacan, 1638 S. Blue Island Ave., when Trump was first elected.

The advocates’ concerns have grown.

Trump has vowed to carry out mass deportations of people in the country illegally, which could directly affect an estimated 425,000 undocumented residents in Illinois. Trump has also promised to end birth right citizenship, denying U.S. citizenship to the children of undocumented immigrants born on U.S. soil.

“I had a sleepless night like so many of you last night, and it brought back memories of being in this room in 2016,” Villanueva said.

Lawrence Benito, executive director of Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, reassured immigrants. “You are not alone,” he said.

His group knocked on doors for candidates who support immigrant rights and helped Illinois pass legislation that he said made “Illinois one of the most immigrant-friendly states.”

“We’ve been through this before, and we will get through it again,” Benito said.

State Sen. Robert Peters, who represents parts of the South Side, said the election was a “very bad and painful referendum on the Biden administration.”

“We must lay out a vision that says, ‘How do we protect people from mass deportations? How do we make sure that we give people citizenship?'” Peters said.

State Rep. Teresa Mah, with tears in her eyes, said she is “alarmed” for the many immigrants living in her Southwest Side district.

“We will work to make sure that immigrant communities thrive here in Illinois,” Mah said. “This coalition has been very successful in protecting immigrants and making sure that immigrants in Illinois thrive and succeed.”

State Rep. Lilian Jimenez said it’s important to comfort the children who might be feeling ill at ease.

“Parents who are talking to their their kids, let them know that they have people fighting for them,” she said.

State Rep. Kevin John Olickal said it was hard to wake up “to a vision of America that’s antithetical to what we fight for in Illinois.”

State Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid, the only Palestinian member in the General Assembly, said Trump was elected because some Democrats ignored the Latino vote, dismissed the economic hardships of others and ignored the concerns of young people who wanted the U.S. to do more to stop Israel’s war in Gaza.

“Those people who made the decision to turn away from us — they elected Donald Trump,” Rashid said.