amandaashe

This morning, my office and I were alerted to a report of immigration agents at a neighborhood school in the Back of the Yards community in the 20th Ward. While details are emerging, I want to ensure my residents that we have not received any reports of ICE agents targeting schools in the 15th Ward.   It is unfortunate we find ourselves in this position. Though ICE was not involved, this scenario is precisely what I was fighting so hard to avoid with my colleagues on the City Council this past month: giving immigration officials an excuse to come into our communities.   When I proposed to reinstate the carve-outs to the Welcoming City Ordinance that then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot removed, it was to give ICE the narrowest possible scope to arrest those known, undocumented, dangerous criminals in our communities.   Sadly, the Chicago City Council, Mayor Brandon Johnson, and community organizations spun a narrative taunting the Trump Administration to unleash their federal reach in our communities. Essentially, they played chicken with the Trump Administration, and now, unfortunately, our innocent undocumented, long-term families, mainly from Mexico, are at risk of being caught up in this fiasco.   It's shameful Mayor Johnson and his radical Aldermen allies have brought us to this point. Dangerous, undocumented immigrants ARE NOT the same as the innocent, hard-working, tax-paying undocumented immigrants in our communities who respect this country and want to do good for their families. Sadly, Johnson and Co. want to force all into one category.   I will always fight for our immigrant families who want to live the American dream. Still, we cannot equate them with dangerous and violent individuals who take advantage of our Sanctuary Laws to continue terrorizing our communities. Today could have been avoided if we had shown a willingness to return common-sense carve-outs to the WCO. The trauma brought to Back of the Yards today is precisely what this City Council and its Mayor wanted to happen all along: a reason to justify their hatred of common sense laws that protect our innocent immigrant families.

Guys, you gotta find a better insult than boring. It’s done. Over. TIRED. It’s bored. Boring is bored.