Chicago Under Trump: An Eyewitness Report

Last week, the Trump Administration launched its mass deportation blitzkrieg around the United States. From rural locales to urban population centers, American communities are reeling with regular reports of raids and roundups as agents from ICE, DEA, ATF, and local police agencies descend upon migrants everywhere, sweeping away workers and families and leaving fear in their wake. Meanwhile, Trump and his allies – including billionaire provocateur Elon Musk – have simultaneously launched a relentless attack on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, both within the U.S. government and across American society.

The editors of MLRG.online received an eyewitness report on developments in Chicago, Illinois. The writer, a 25-year-old elementary school teacher, describes mounting tensions and fears in America’s third-largest city as Trump’s agendas and tactics take shape.

Recently, the Secret Service showed up at a Chicago Public School in a neighborhood just streets from where I teach. They claimed to be investigating an online post made by an 11-year-old student regarding a “protectee.” In communities on the South Side of Chicago, the anxiety is palpable, especially for recent migrants or those who are birthright citizens of the U.S. In the last few weeks, CPS teachers have been in constant communication with coworkers, administrators, and district officials, searching for guidance on how to support students of marginalized identities in the face of massive policy changes that threaten human rights.

The fear and the somber feelings are not tangible everywhere, but I certainly feel it. As a woman in a visibly queer relationship, being a teacher in a Title I school, and being surrounded by a community of LGBTQ+ people. The day after the election, a coworker who teaches Spanish-speaking students cried with me in a dark classroom during our lunch period, recounting how her students asked her if they were going to be deported to the countries they migrated from months earlier.

While it is hard to maintain faith in humanity, I am comforted by the fact that I can make small differences in the lives of so many. As an educator, showing up for my students and their families each day and reminding them that they are loved feels like the most radical act of resistance.

By continuing to love my partner unabashedly and openly, I am not backing down. Although crushing anxiety currently permeates Chicago’s marginalized communities, as it does throughout the United States, I have seen the communities that I am a part of come together to protect each other.

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