Any item that poses a potential safety hazards, as determined by the
Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of
signage. Three, food and beverages, including
in glass or metal canisters. Four, backpacks,
large bags, and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted
in color, that do not exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by
12 are permitted and subject to search.
And five, firearms, ammunition, fireworks,
laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, mace, pepper
spray, and toy weapons. Cell phones and other small
handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode,
can only be used while seated, and can only be used in a
manner that does not interfere with the ability other
individuals to view or hear the proceedings.
Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these
rules will be subject to removal from the remainder of the
meeting by the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council or
any of its committees. All individuals and their belongings are
subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose. Or three, when
asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting, is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms,
throwing any item, whistling, booing, shouting,
or other loud utterances, are not permitted when in the judgment of the
meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, such actions are
disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the
meeting. Any item that poses a potential safety
hazards, as determined by the Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited
in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or metal
canisters. Four, backpacks, large bags, and
sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in color, that do
not exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by 12 are
permitted and subject to search. And five, firearms,
ammunition, fireworks, laser pointers, stun guns,
tasers, mace, pepper spray, and toy weapons.
Cell phones and other small handheld recording devices must be
placed in silent mode, can only be used while seated,
and can only be used in a manner that does not interfere
with the ability other individuals to view or hear the
proceedings. Individuals or groups failing to
adhere to these rules will be subject to removal from the
remainder of the meeting by the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council or
any of its committees. All individuals and their belongings are
subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose. Or three, when asked
to rise and be acknowledged by a member of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting, is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms,
throwing any item, whistling, booing, shouting,
or other loud utterances, are not permitted when in the judgment of the
meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, such actions are
disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazards, as determined by the
Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters.Four, backpacks, large bags,
and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in color,
that do not exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by 12,
are permitted and subject to search.
And five, firearms, ammunition, fireworks,
laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, mace pepper
spray, and toy weapons. Cell phones and other small
handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode,
can only be used while seated, and can only be used in
a manner that does not interfere with the ability of other
individuals to view or hear the proceedings.
Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these
rules will be subject to removal from the remainder of the
meeting by the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council or
any of its committees. All individuals and their belongings are
subject to search at entry or upon
request.Of
the Chicago City Council Rules of Order and Procedure.
The Sergeant at Arms sets forth the following rules of conduct for
members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council or
any of its committees. All individuals and their belongings are
subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose.
Or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member
of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting, is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms,
throwing any item, whistling, booing, shouting,
or other loud utterances are not permitted when in the judgment of the
meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, such actions are
disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazards, as determined by the
Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters. Four, backpacks, large
bags, and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in
color, that do not exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by
12 are permitted and subject to search.
And five, firearms, ammunition, fireworks,
laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, mace pepper
spray, and toy weapons. Cell phones and other small
handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode,
can only be used while seated, and can only be used in a
manner that does not interfere with the ability of other
individuals to view or hear the proceedings.
Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these
rules will be subject to removal from the remainder of the
meeting by the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council
or any of its committees. All individuals and their
belongings are subject to search at entry or upon
request. Individuals must remain seated at all
times except, one, when entering or exiting the
gallery. Two, when providing public comment during the
portion of a meeting set aside for that purpose.
Or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a
member of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting, is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms,
throwing any item, whistling, booing, shouting,
or other loud utterances are not permitted when in the judgment of the
meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, such actions are
disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazards as...
One, any pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters. Four, backpacks, large bags,
and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in color,
that do not exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by 12
are permitted and subject to search.
And five, firearms, ammunition, fireworks,
laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, mace pepper
spray, and toy weapons. Cell phones and other small
handheld recording devices must be placed in silent
mode, can only be used while seated, and can only
be used in a manner that does not interfere with the ability
of other individuals to view or hear the proceedings.
Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these
rules will be subject to removal from the remainder of the
meeting by the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings 2023 to
2027Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago
City Council Rules of Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at
Arms sets forth the following rules of conduct for members of the
public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council or
any of its committees. All individuals and their belongings are
subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose.
Or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member
of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting, is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms,
throwing any item, whistling, booing, shouting,
or other loud utterances, are not permitted when in the judgment of the
meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, such actions are
disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazards, as determined by the
Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or metal
canisters. Four, backpacks, large bags, and
sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in color, that do
not exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by 12 are
permitted and subject to search. And five, firearms,
ammunition, fireworks, laser pointers, stun guns,
tasers, mace, pepper spray, and toy weapons.
Cell phones and other small handheld recording devices must be
placed in silent mode, can only be used while seated,
and can only be used in a manner that does not interfere
with the ability of other individuals to view or hear the
proceedings. Individuals or groups failing to
adhere to these rules will be subject to removal from the
remainder of the meeting by the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council
or any of its committees. All individuals and their
belongings are subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose.
Or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member
of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting, is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms,
throwing any item, whistling, booing, shouting,
or other loud utterances, are not permitted when in the judgment of the
meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, such actions are
disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the
meeting. Any item that poses a potential safety
hazards, as determined by the Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited
in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters. Four, backpacks, large
bags, and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in
color, that do not exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by
12 are permitted and subject to search.
And five, firearms, ammunition, fireworks,
laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, mace, pepper
spray, and toy weapons. Cell phones and other small
handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode,
can only be used while seated, and can only be used in a
manner that does not interfere with the ability of other
individuals to view or hear the proceedings.
Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these
rules will be subject to removal from the remainder of the
meeting by the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council or
any of its committees. All individuals and their belongings are
subject to search at entry or upon
request.Individuals must remain seated at all
times except, one, when entering or exiting the
gallery. Two, when providing public comment during the
portion of a meeting set aside for that purpose.
Or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member
of the city council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the sergeant-at-arms, may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms,
throwing any item, whistling, booing, shouting,
or other loud utterances, are not permitted when in the judgment of the
meeting's chair or the sergeant at arms, such actions are
disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazards, as determined by the
sergeant at arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters. Four, backpacks.
Following
rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the city council
or any of its committees. All individuals and their
belongings are subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose.
Or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member
of the city council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the sergeant at arms, may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms,
throwing any item, whistling, booing, shouting,
or other loud utterances, are not permitted when in the judgment of the
meeting's chair or the sergeant at arms, such actions are
disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazards, as determined by the
sergeant at arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters. Four, backpacks, large bags,
and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in color,
that do not exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by 12
are permitted and subject to search.
And five, firearms, ammunition, fireworks,
laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, mace/pepper
spray, and toy weapons. Cell phones and other small
handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode,
can only be used while seated, and can only be used in
a manner that does not interfere with the ability of other
individuals to view or hear the proceedings.
Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these
rules will be subject to removal from the room.
Oh, the silence. Hi, everybody.
Good morning. The Committee on Immigrant Refugee Rights will now come to order.
Today, we have two items on the agenda, rule 45 approval,
and a resolution expressing support for preservation and
expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA
program, brought forth by myself and Alderwoman Gutierrez.
Votes will be taken on this item. We will begin with a roll call to
establish quorum.
Alderperson Dow. Alderwoman
Gutierrez.
Alderperson Knudsen.
Alderperson Rodriguez.
Here.
Alderperson Fuentes.
Alderman Taliaferro.
All right. Alderwoman Cruz.
Alderman CardonaAlderwoman Rodriguez Sanchez?
Thank you. Alderman Casada?
Alderwoman Monal Hoppenworth?
Alderwoman Hadden? Vice Chair Taylor?
And myself, Chair Vasquez.
There are seven members present. We have a quorum.
Also, for the record,
is Alderman Waguespack still here?
Okay.
All right.
Who requested...
Okay,
great.
At this time, we'll begin the public comment period.
The period is limited to 30 minutes.
Out of respect for everyone's time, each speaker is limited to three minutes.
Remote speakers will comment first, followed by those in person.
As of 10:15 AM, Wednesday, June 10th, 2026,
zero callers have requested to speak today, so we will move on to in-person
speakers.
Our first speaker will be Mr. George Blakemore.
Blakemore. You are just a howling and outrage.
Young man, I'm challenging you
to educate
your constituents, to let them know
this is not about
making a law or legislation. It's only for
information only.
They are only going to discuss the DACA of
children that was brought over by their parents, and they want
to receive
citizenship.
This is not a legislation. And I want you all to know what
happened, the reason he's so late, because he didn't have
a quorum.
And also, sir,
I want you to always educate the other
aldermen, your Black aldermen.
You all are
divisive
of what you're doing here. The Blacks against the whites, the
whites against the Mexicans. But you supposed to
try to unite. Now, I know you're
married outside of your ethnic group, too.
So it's not a good look to come to a meeting to
see all Black people.
It's not good to come to a meeting and see all white
people, or Asian people, or Mexican people
when you have 50 aldermen.
What happened? Only Calapharro you could influence
the importance of this meeting?
Where are our other 18 or 20 aldermen, Black
aldermen?
And where are the white aldermen?
Where
are the white aldermen?
This city, what we do, we fight against each other because
racism is alive here.
So can you
people, can we all
get along?
You can't get along when you have poor leadership, poor Black
leadership, poor Hispanic leadership, poor Asian
leadership.
And they're all a member of one political party,
and that party is the Democrats. You want to
have multi-party. You don't want to be like a communist system
having one party. Don't talk about Trump.
Don't talk about the Republicans. Look in the mirror at yourself.
A united people.
Right here, it shows divisiveness.
It shows racism. It shows hatred.
It shows nepotism. It shows corruption.
So I'm blaming you.
You the chairman.
And it's not no legislation. It's just another dog
and pony show that you put on.
Thank you.
Our next speaker is Pamela Ortiz.
Hi. Good morning. My name is Pamela Ortiz, and I live in Bridgeport, the
11th Ward. I'm with Brighton Park Neighborhood Council and ICIR.
Over the last year, the city of Chicago has faced attacks from our own federal
government. ICE has targeted Chicago and the surrounding suburbs for intense
immigration raids, even before the new administration took office.
These actions impact us all, immigrant communities, citizens,
parents, students, residents, DACA recipients, and
more. We've seen the violence brought to cities like ours across the country by
ICE and Border Patrol agents. They have tear-gassed our neighbors and also
CPD officers, snatched and abducted people on the street,
arrested US citizens, and detained DACA recipients.
All of this has continuously undermined public safety throughout our city.
We need to make sure, at all levels of government, that all efforts possible are
made to hold ICE and the federal government accountable for their violence against
our communities. These
harms include the uptick in ICE at courthouses in our region and the
uncertainty and vulnerability faced by DACA recipients.
That's why the DACA resolution introduced today is so important.
Our city must demand boldly and officially that we wholeheartedly support the
preservation and expansion of DACA and commit to advocate for DACA
recipients living in Chicago and Illinois.
Chicagoans have shown over the past year that we will do whatever we can to protect
ourselves and each other. Our government has a responsibility to do its part.
We know that what happens at the federal level shapes the local level, but we also
know that what happens at the local level can also shape the federal and national
level.We are proud to speak in support of today's resolution during the 14th
year anniversary of DACA. We will continue to organize for
accountability. We will fight to safeguard DACA protections, and for a path
to lawful permanent status and US citizenship for all
for our community members, DACA recipients, their families, and all our neighbors.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Our next speaker is Ani Huamani.
Hi, good morning. My name is Ani Huamani.
I live in Chicagoland, the 18th Ward, and I am with Brighton Park Neighborhood
Council.
I'm here today because I want to express my support of my fellow peers that I know
have benefited from the DACA program.
It is of the utmost urgency for all levels of government to stand up against
yet another relentless attack on the DACA program.
My best friend is a DACA recipient.
She has gone on to support many community members, especially elders, through their
financial journeys. These achievements don't only benefit this
person as an individual, but also the people around them and their greater
community.
The people who have been on DACA have had the opportunity to really grow and build
deeper roots in their communities, whether they have opened up a local business
that we frequent or have become career professionals in all kinds of working
fields, passing on the knowledge they've gained and fortifying our
neighborhoods.
They have left a mark on our society and all over our incredible city
already, including making our community safer and stronger, and will continue to do
so. Continuing the attacks on them is continuing the attacks on all of
us. Their safety is our safety. We need to support all of the DACA
recipients and demand better for them, too.
Remaining in the unknown is a disgusting and torturous way to keep driving
immigrants out, and we know that is
what the federal administration is trying to do by delaying renewals and deporting
DACA recipients. This administration is creating the conditions to make it more
difficult to remain here and continue to pursue the lives that have been built over
so many years. Our city must continue to
stand up against the Trump agenda and proudly show our support for people
like my best friend and other longtime Chicagoans who are DACA recipients.
I urge the city to take that step by passing this resolution and demanding
more out of our representatives, today during DACA's 14th anniversary
and every day. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Our next speaker is Nora Rowley.
Hello, my name is Dr. Nora Rowley. I am from Rogers Park,
and I am representing Individual Edgewater.
For the last 16 years, I have been doing evaluations, medical and
psychological, for people seeking some type of immigration relief,
including people in detention.
And I have interviewed hundreds of people
fleeing
detention,
attacks by their government security forces in their own
country, being detained,
and further tortured or otherwise traumatized, suffering
injury, illnesses that are not
addressed and refused to be addressed.
And I'm very concerned about what's happening in our country with the fact that
there are immigrants that have been taken,
disappeared,
and their whereabouts are unknown.
And the people that are in detentions that are having difficulty getting medical
attention or getting appropriate treatment only get the
treatment if
their loved ones or their legal representation or
both fight for it. So the amount of people
that are taken by Immigration, that their whereabouts are
unknown, is even more concerning of
how many people have injuries and illnesses that are not
getting care. Thank you. And we need to know
more data about Chicagoans, and I'm aware that
there are
different subcommittees that have information, but
different ordinances and that need to be brought up so that
that information can be published. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Our next speaker is Claudia Marchant.
Good morning, everyone. My name is Claudia Marchant.
I'm the executive director of the Immigration Law and Justice
of Northern Illinois and a member of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and
Refugee Rights. At our organization, we provide free immigration legal
services to immigrants who need them.
Many of our clients have DACA, and they come to our organization every two
years to renew their DACA status and work permit.
I used to be a DACA recipient for close to 10 years.
I came to the US at the age of four.
I was born in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico.
I was undocumented for 20 years and had DACA for 10
years. Although DACA is not perfect and it needs a pathway to
citizenship, it did allow me to develop professionally and has provided
access to attain a good quality of life.
This is the case for the mothers, fathers, teachers, nurses,
engineers, attorneys, accountants, scientists, community
leaders, small business owners, nonprofit leaders, and especially
those risking their lives every single day in
frontline jobs. However, now they are
under threat. I can only imagineThe fear that
they go through every single day knowing that they can be deported because of an
administration that is breaking the law
by kidnapping, detaining, and deporting them.
They are now facing delayed renewals and also losing their
jobs.
The toughest years having DACA status were those
when DACA came under attack, like now.
Most recently, the protections that DACA grants are not being upheld or
respected. One of
the main protections of DACA
is to be protected from deportation because it grants the temporary
stay and work permit. Now, under the current administration, DACA recipients
are being kidnapped, detained,
and denied their rights, and are being held against their will in detention
centers and deported. I am now a legal permanent resident
because I was lucky that there was a law that protected me and allowed me to adjust
my status.
Luck should not be a defining factor for our security.
We should have a just immigration system with opportunities for people to immigrate
and gain lawful status no matter of the color of their skin.
And legal benefits like DACA should be upheld, respected, and
people should feel safe with these DACA protections.
Furthermore, renewal applications should be processed in a timely
manner so that people are not losing their jobs and putting their family's
wellbeing and security at risk. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Our next speaker is Taiwan Sims.
Good morning. Good morning committee.
Morning.
Today is in regards to resolution
2026-002433,
and you recommend that all that it just passed through.
What does it say? It says, "Recommended DO PASS full committee."
I guess agreement.
However, this speaks to first and second generation individuals.
I think that the young lady that spoke first will be maybe first
generation or second generation.
But is this just a symbolic resolution,
sir? Because if it does, it says, "City-funded
immigration
legal services." Is it attached to that?
Is it attached to nonprofit contracts, public health access
programs, educational workforce programs, grant
allocation? Is it attached to any of this?
Sanctuary welcome and city ordinances
and protections. But the one is,
and I'm sure it's not attached to this, where you say
federal, what is it? Federal
agreement or something like that.
Because already the mayor said he's not going to be working with the
federal government.
So is this just a symbolic ordinance and where we bring
all these symbols out
and have them speak towards it?
Because as we said,
this is amazing. Y'all amaze me. And Mr. Blakemore, it's true.
Y'all are divisive and very grifty at that.
And I don't want to attack you, Mr. Vasquez, but you have shown with certainty that
this is your grift
to bring these individuals out and utilize them
to your benefit, sir, or the benefit of Mr.
Rodriguez or the benefit of whoever is getting something out of this
to gain. Yes, Michael David Rodriguez, and I spoke about
y'all November 14th.
But tell me, what will they benefit?
What do the ladies and the daughters or the sons that are on the L
or in the street selling candy, what do they benefit?
Those were the individuals y'all brought in, right?
Up to 237,000 individuals.
I guess what? Your small workforce for Michael David Rodriguez, but what do
you get out of it? Or for Byron C. Joe Lopez, the housing,
but what do they get out of it?
Because they're not residents or first generation, and this speaks to the
protection
of first and second generation DACA recipients.
And I grew up with those recipients. We grew up with those recipients.
I grew up in Rogers Park 30 years, Nora,
with those recipients.
But I don't see any of those recipients in this room.
Nope. So tell me,
what do we benefit as Chicagoans? And since this is attached to
whatever grants, city services, all of
these different things, does it speak to how Chicago is
helping it?
Thank you. Next speaker
is Peter Zicherman.
My name is Peter Zicherman. I'm the Senior Director of Programs for World Relief
Chicagoland. It's a faith-based refugee and immigrant assistance organization
serving many immigrants, including DACA recipients.
We have an office in the 33rd Ward.
DACA recipients are young people
that came to this country, were raised in this country.
They're members of our churches, classmates of our children, and coworkers.
They belong here, and it's past time US law reflected that reality.
In the meantime, while that remains aspiration instead of reality, it's
important to put in place local policies supporting DACA recipients.
The City of Chicago has a rich and inspiring history of community organizing and
leadership by immigrant young people across our neighborhoods.
And during this month's anniversary of the federal DACA program, it's important
that we take time to reflect and honor that legacy within our region.
We can do this by supporting the resolution that's being introduced in the City
Council today, marking 14 years since DACA's inception.
It's been 14 years-Of DACA receiving individuals paying
DACA renewal fees and anxiously waiting for the applications to be approved.
14 years that has been a lifeline in the lives of many, while at the same time
providing only a temporary band-aid that has left many out of the equation.
Today, we can honor the legacy of immigrant youth organizing by naming that unless
communities push for it, there is no accountability and change to our immigration
system. DACA only exists because of the demands of immigrant youth
alongside their families and fellow community members.
Chicago has been such an important site for this kind of community building and an
example to other municipalities.
We hope that this committee and the city council at large will do the right thing,
honor this legacy, and support the DACA resolution. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Our next speaker is Carolina Cifuentes.
Good morning.
My name is Carolina Cifuentes, and I am a resident
of this lovely city for more than 45 years.
I live in Edgewater, and I've lived there all this time,
and I never
imagined that I would see what I've
seen in the city
and in this country, what we have all witnessed against
our own fellow
members of society.
The attacks on immigrants have been
nothing more than what
I grew up as a child seeing in Guatemala,
where people were disappeared,
never to be found again.
Well,
I won't go into that, but I never thought that what
happens in banana republics, so-called banana republics, would
be happening here.
A fellow
member of my Indivisible Edgewater chapter has alluded
to the disappearances.
But also, I'm appalled at the fact
that
the judge last month didn't allow for a
special prosecutor,
and simply because the police reports were not
written.
So I am here today
to say they're past due,
and we need to see them.
We have to do what's right. The city has
its heart, and
your heart, even in this committee, is in the right place.
I appreciate everything that this committee does,
and I appreciate the efforts of amending the
city codes that are in progress toward
accountability.
We,
in our organization, are trying to figure out how to work with you
and how to work with
other organizations so that we get accountability.
We need those police reports. We need justice.
Not only because of what has happened.
Just take Mari Mar Martinez as an example.
We need justice, but also to send a message
that this is not supposed to happen, and it's not going to be
allowed. ICE has more money than ever.
This is not going to get better.
And we just learned that their abductions are
happening just as much as they happen in the fall.
And with more money, I think we're going to hear more helicopters hovering
over our fine city. So we want accountability.
We need to send that message. We need to work together.
I am deeply grateful for your committee and everything that you do.
Thank you very much.
Our next speaker is Maeve Elder.
Good morning.
I am going to be reading a statement on behalf of a dear friend and colleague of
mine, Gabriela Ponce.
My name is Gabriela, and I am a resident of the West Lawn neighborhood in the
13th Ward.
I am here today in support of a resolution for DACA recipients
and to urge the city of Chicago to provide meaningful support, especially
during lengthy renewal delays.
I am speaking on the eve of my 198th day of
pending renewal of my DACA application.
Every day that passes leaves me vulnerable and unprotected while working in the
field where I help people facing many of the same challenges.
My neighborhood of West Lawn was among those heavily targeted during Operation
Midway Blitz, where the city saw thousands of its residents
impacted by immigration enforcement activity.
It has been a very difficult reality to comprehend not feeling supported by our
local government, while Chicago itself was always known to me as a city
that protects and welcomes its immigrants.
My family moved to Chicago 16 years ago from a small rural town in
South Georgia.
There were few and limited opportunities, support, or
resources for immigrant families like mine.
Chicago being a sanctuary city, was
among the reasons my family
decided to relocate here and make this our home.
When DACA was introduced, it changed my life.
For the first time, I was granted temporary protection from
deportation and the ability to legally work and contribute
more fully to my community.However, as the years
went by and administrations changed and legal challenges
continued,
the program became increasingly vulnerable.
Today, we are being further targeted by renewal processing delays that leave
us without protection or work authorization while awaiting
approvals. These administrative
issues have left DACA recipients in positions where they have lost their
jobs because of their work authorization expiring due to delays,
and left unable to work, interrupted their education, and struggle
to support their families. At the same time, many
continue to live with the daily fear created by the constant and never-ending
presence of immigration enforcement agents in our
communities. As we approach DACA's 14th anniversary,
I respectfully urge this committee to support this resolution and continue
advocating for policies that protect DACA recipients and
immigrant families. Chicago must reaffirm its
commitment to being a welcoming city and protect its
immigrants by showing dignity for our community and recognizing the
contributions that DACA recipients make every day. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
And our final speaker, Kevin Amaro.
Hi, my name is Kevin Amaro and I'm with Illinois Workers in Action, and I
also live in the South Side of Chicago.
I am here on behalf of many of the community members I work with and my
family who are not comfortable to speak here today or are not allowed.
I am here to support the resolution to protect DACA recipients.
As we know, this has allowed hundreds
and thousands of people to
contribute fully to our communities, workplace,
neighborhoods, and they're all types of workers, right?
Teachers, healthcare,
students, nonprofit leaders, essential workers who help in
strengthening the social fabric of Chicago every day.
Of course, we know that DACA recipients also contribute billions of dollars
in federal, state, and local taxes as well, support local businesses through
spending. But beyond the economic impact, it also strengthens our
communities. It is allowing people to pursue higher education, build
careers, purchase homes, and invest in the neighborhoods that they've always called
home.
I want to quote someone who wanted to be here today,
and their quote is that, "As an immigrant, I am working to
become a citizen. But I often question if there would be any benefit
from it. I wonder if this will continue to be the cycle of not living, but
surviving.
No idea if I would ever be able to save for my own home or to be able to afford a
family.
People like me who work in essential positions are taken for granted, abused while
being crushed under the weight of this economy.
We are being overworked, underpaid, and not guaranteed a
future."
It's time our politicians reflect the sentiments.
I urge city council to support this resolution and stand with DACA recipients
because these are not strangers to Chicago, they are Chicago. Thank you.
Thank you to all of our speakers today.
I would like to note that this committee received zero written public
comments. There being no more speakers, the public comment period
is concluded.
Alderperson
Gutierrez, Haley Gutierrez, has requested a virtual option for committee
hearing attendance in accordance with Rule 59 of the city council rules of
order. Can I get a motion to allow her to attend this hearing
virtually?
So moved by Alderperson Rodriguez.
Hearing no objections, so ordered.
The first item on the agenda before our committee is to approve the May
2026 Rule 45 report. Can I have a motion to approve?
Alderperson Rodriguez so moves. Hearing no objection, so
ordered.
The second item
is a consideration of
R2026-0025433,
a resolution expressing support for
preservation and expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals,
or DACA, that Alderwoman Gutierrez and I introduced and several of
my colleagues have co-sponsored.
This Immigrant Heritage Month, we are here to celebrate the significant
contributions of DACA recipients to our city, our state,
and our nation, and all of the immigrants that make our communities better.
This year, DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals,
marks its 14th anniversary on June 15th.
But we know that Dreamers have been around for a lot longer than 14
years. These are people who came here as
children and have grown into invaluable members of our community,
serving our neighborhoods, strengthening our economy, and building our city and our
nation's future.
Despite their many contributions, DACA recipients remain in a state
of limbo.
Not only have many of them lived their entire life in the United States without
being granted a path towards citizenship or permanent
residency due to Congress dragging its feet on meaningful immigration
reform, but now, thanks to the Trump administration,
their protections from detention and deportation and their ability to make a living
are being put into jeopardy.
Over the past six months, DACA recipients have been facing enormous
delays of up to six months in the approvals and renewals of
their applications and work permits.
These delays have created constant uncertainty, putting people at risk of
losing their jobs and potential deportation.
The Trump administration's campaign of mass deportation has already
taken a massive toll on our communities and our economy, and it is now putting the
lives of those who have spent their lives in this country contributing to our
communities at riskThe City Council committee
members gathered today declare our support for the preservation and
expansion of DACA protections and our commitment to
advocate for DACA recipients living in Chicago and throughout
Illinois. We also call on Congress to pass legislation that upholds
DACA and provides recipients and their families with a clear path to lawful
permanent status and US citizenship.
We will not abandon the dream that DACA was founded
on. As these attacks on DACA and our neighbors continue, we
must remember that our strength lies in the ability to stand together
shoulder-to-shoulder and fight for what's right, and we will not stop
fighting until all dreamers have a path to citizenship.
With that,
I'd like to pass it on-- Well, prior to that, I'd like to recognize
Alderwoman Dowell for quorum. Thank you very much, Alderwoman.
And I'll now pass it to our co-sponsor, Alderwoman Haley Gutierrez,
for any remarks. Alderwoman
Gutierrez?
Thank you so much, Chairman.
It's incredible what's going on throughout our state, our
city, and especially with the federal government.
Thank you so much for allowing me to co-sponsor this important resolution.
All my support to all our DACA recipients that are struggling right now,
having their jobs being cut because they have not been renewed.
I really encourage my colleagues to also support this resolution,
even though we don't have the last word.
It's our duty to protect our constituents
and express support and help out as much as we can. Thank you so much.
Thank you very much.
We have a few people providing testimony for this item today.
Okay.
First, we have Susana Salgado, Director of Youth
Programs at Centro Romero.
"I can't do anything with you. You don't have a social security
number," my senior year counselor simply told me.
As a National Honor Society member, those words crushed my dreams and
hopes of becoming an astronaut. My name is Susana, and I have been living in
Rogers Parks for the last 34 years.
I will share with you how DACA opened doors for me, the contributions DACA
recipients have made to the city of Chicago, and how uncertain my life is right
now. In 2012, all dreamers were in Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals,
DACA. And with this, many doors were opened.
I was able to get a social security number, get a driver license, and see my
grandparents after 26 years. One of the most important door that
opened was the door to college. I'm the first one in my family to earn a college
degree. I'm the director of the Youth Leadership and Academic Development Program
at Centro Romero. I'm a published author in research studies and a
book. As a city resident, I joined many education campaigns with
coalitions at the city and state levels, which led to the creation
of the Office of College and Career Success in Chicago Public Schools.
Nowadays, all high school counselors receive training on understanding their
student immigration status and the scholarships available to everyone.
I participated in scholarship panels of state senators to provide scholarships to
young people with the greatest needs in academic achievement.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many DACA recipients served as vital
frontlines and essential workers in healthcare and social services,
including myself and other key staff who are DACA recipients.
We kept the
youth program open during the pandemic.
I have organized City Keys where over 1,000
residents can get an identification card and feel that Chicago is their
home. Like me, other DACA recipients have contributed to the
city. My doctor said I have to lower my stress.
He does not understand that for the last year and a half, my life has been
uncertain. Every day, I wake up thinking about what's going to happen with my
immigration status. I have been renewing my work authorization for the last
14 years. My good moral character cannot be questioned,
yet there's still no path to citizenship for me.
Last year, our legal department helped me apply for permanent residency through a
family petition. However, due to the constant attacks and the
increasing delays to block immigration relief for us, my
wait time has been longer than usual.
My grandma passed away three weeks ago, and I could not see her again.
Recently, I bought a home, and I am worried that my permanent residency
card or work permit would not arrive on time, which could
affect my dream of being a homeowner.
I am a community leader, and not only my mental health is being
affected due to this uncertainty, but also the mental health of other community
members, like USA citizen children, who are aware that their
teachers, healthcare providers, role models, and parents live
in uncertainty. As a community leader, I understand that social
justice comes when comprehensive approaches are taken into account,
addressing multiple social, economic, and cultural needs.
Our needs right now is for the city of Chicago to support us.
Support us by approving the DACA resolution and continuing to fund
city programs like the Chicago Legal Protection Fund that provides
education, support, and legal advice on know your rights
to all city residents.
I am a dreamer, just like you. I still have dreams to achieve.
Eleanor Roosevelt said, "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of
their dreams." This quote has kept me resilient because
my dreams are beautiful. Thank you for being our partner in accomplishing
dreams for Chicago residents like me. Andre.
Thank you very much, Susana.
Next, we have Cecilia Mendoza, Associate Director of Government
Relations at National Immigrant Justice Center, NIJC.
Thank you,
ChairmanOkay.
Good morning, members of the Committee of Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
I am Cecilia with the National Immigrant Justice Center, NIJC.
First, thank you for the opportunity to testify today in recognition of the 14
years of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, AKA
DACA program. Thank you to Chair Vasquez, and also
the Alderwoman Gutierrez for introducing a resolution that honors DACA
recipients, names the obstacles they face, and calls on our
congressional representatives for a path to lawful permanent status for them,
affirming City Council's dedication and support of DACA recipients.
With staff that includes attorneys, Department of Justice,
DOJ, accredited representatives, paralegals, and a network of pro bono
attorneys, NIJC provides legal services for immigrants who want to
reunite with family or seek safety from danger and persecution they
experienced in their homelands. Since the program's
inception, NIJC has represented DACA recipients.
Today, I'll provide an overview of how the DACA program came to be,
the multiple attempts to end the program, and where DACA stands now.
To begin, we need to go back to 2001.
We would not have DACA to begin with without the legislative fight
for the Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors
Act, AKA the DREAM Act.
The DREAM Act would provide a pathway to legal status for undocumented people who
came to the United States as children.
The DREAM Act was first introduced in 2001 and has been
reintroduced in every Congress since
then. As we know, the DREAM Act has not become law, and the closest
we got was in 2010,
where we were short five votes in the House.
The most recent version of the DREAM Act was introduced in December of
last year.
With the continued inaction from Congress on the DREAM Act,
undocumented youth-led immigrant rights organizations and groups across the
country amplified their voices through grassroots organizing and
coming out of the shadow events, sending a clear message that they are
undocumented, unafraid, and unapologetic, and demanding action.
The combination of congressional inaction and grassroots organizing led
to the creation of the DACA program.
On June 15th, 2012, the Obama administration announced
the DACA program, and the US Citizenship and Immigration Service
began accepting applications on August 15th of 2012.
NIJC was proud to serve DACA applicants from day one, along
with many legal service providers as over 10,000 youth
lined up at Navy Pier to seek this vital protection.
DACA provides a two-year protection from deportation and work
authorization. For some DACA recipients, DACA also
offers the opportunity to apply for advance parole, which would
allow travel abroad for humanitarian, education, or employment
reasons.
On September 5th, 2017, five years into the
program, the Trump administration rescinded DACA.
USCIS stops accepting initial applications and
provided a short window for renewals.
Several lawsuits followed this announcement.
The majority of the lawsuits were filed by proponents of the DACA program, hoping
to keep it in place. Since 2017, the DACA program
has been subject to litigation. There have been periods of time where no
applications, whether initial or renewal, were accepted.
Some periods of time where both initial and renewals were
accepted, and times where only renewals were accepted, causing
confusion among the community.
Several lawsuits were then consolidated and argued before the Supreme Court.
On June 18th, 2020, the Supreme Court found that the Trump
administration did not follow the procedures required by law when it
terminated the DACA program. A federal court ordered the
administration to begin accepting new application in line with the Supreme Court's
decision. Instead, what followed the summer in
2020 were a series of USCIS policy memos and additional
court decisions that restricted instead of restored the DACA
program.
In summary, the memos and court orders stopped accepting and
processing initial DACA requests, restricted a DACA recipient's
ability to request advance parole, and reduced the period of
DACA benefits from two years to one year.
Thanks to one of the first lawsuits filed that challenged the Trump
administration's attempt to end DACA in 2017, advocates were
able to return to the courts and litigate the validity of these memos.
On December 4th, 2020, the US District Court judge ruled
that then acting Secretary of Homeland Security,
Chad Wolf, was not properly serving in his role, therefore did not have
the authority to issue the summer 2020 memos.
USCIS was ordered to restore the DACA program to its original
parameters, including accepting and processing initial
applications.
This was the small window where people who were eligible for DACA over the last
three years but had not been able to submit their applications finally had the
opportunity to submit their applications for the first time.
However, litigation continued and the case that continues to hold DACA
recipients' future in limbo is the Texas v.
United States case.
This is the case where on July 16th, 2021,
US District Court Judge Hanen out of Texas ruled that the
DACA program was illegal.
This decision again halted the accepting and processing of initial
applications. However, it did allow for current DACA
recipients to continue renewing their benefits.
An appeal on this decision was filed and went to the Fifth Circuit Court of
Appeals, one of the most conservative circuits in the
country.For another
almost four years of uncertainty for DACA recipients and DACA
hopefuls, the Fifth Circuit Court of appeals issued a
decision on January 17th, 2025. The decision
upheld the part of DACA that protects recipients from deportation as
lawful, but unfortunately held that the work authorization
is not a lawful part of DACA.
However, the Fifth Circuit also limited any eventual
changes to the DACA program to Texas, because in this lawsuit, they
were the only state that properly demonstrated injury from DACA.
The case was sent back to the US district courts to address how to sever access
to work permits for deportation protections.
For now, the DACA program remains in place, allowing current DACA
recipients in all states to continue to renew their benefits while the
litigation continues its journey in the courts,
unfortunately, with the pause on processing initial
applications remaining in place.
While DACA renewals are being accepted and processed, as we've already heard, there
are processing delays. We are seeing five to
six-month delays in DACA renewal applications, and we are recommending
to start the renewal process as soon as six to eight months prior to the
expiration of current benefits. Many of our in-house and pro bono
clients' benefits are lapsing, and we are seeing them lose their
jobs and access to
employer-sponsored healthcare, for example.
Further reminding us that DACA was not a permanent solution and why we have always
needed a pathway to legal status. Now, families and communities are
at risk of losing their stability.
DACA is not only being attacked by policy memos and court rulings, but also the
protection it offers are being further undermined via a recent Board
of Immigration Appeals, BIA, decision.
The BIA held that the DACA status alone can
no longer be used as a basis to defer or stop deportation
proceedings. This decision adds to the growing pattern of
the federal administration to erode the DACA program by reducing
the protections it offers and taking away people's work permit,
thus destabilizing families, entire communities, and industry.
We highly encourage people to consult with an immigration attorney or DOJ
accredited representative about their case,
especially as we continue to see an increase in risk of enforcement for DACA
recipients.
The Department of Homeland Security, DHS, has released conflicting information
about their arrests. However, they have disclosed that last year they've
deported dozens of DACA beneficiaries and detained over 300
others. We remain vigilant and firmly committed to defending
DACA and all undocumented community members.
As I shared at the top, NIJC has represented DACA applicants since the
start of the program, and want to share a bit more about the work that we've done.
We've held over 210 clinics with pro bono partners since
2012, with a nearly 100% approval rate, with
clients returning to us for their seventh or eighth time to renew.
With DACA protection, an entire generation of immigrant youth have been able to
pursue higher education, enter the workforce, start businesses, raise
families, and deepen their roots in our communities.
Thanks to the New Americans Initiative and the Chicago Legal Protection
Fund, we can provide free legal representation with DACA applications
to Illinois and Chicago residents.
I also want to further highlight the importance of legal consultations.
In a 2014 survey from the Center for Migrant
Studies that we participated in, the study found that
14.3% of individuals screened for DACA eligibility
were also found to be potentially eligible for other, more permanent forms
of relief. We have screened DACA clients for family-based options,
asylum, special immigrant juvenile status, U Visa, and VAWA
relief.
Funding for immigration legal services continues to be a critical resource, not
only to identify if other permanent relief options exist, but to also
advise people of how policy changes impact their case and
evaluate risk at every step of the immigration
process.
For this reason, an additional ask to this committee and to the city council is
to maintain level funding for the Chicago Legal Protection Fund, which allows us
to provide free immigration legal services to low-income Chicago
residents.
To close, I would like to thank the committee again for the work that you do in
support of our immigrant, refugee, and asylee communities in Chicago.
Please support the resolution that honors the 14 years of the DACA program
and provide continued support to Chicago's DACA residents.
They are pillars of our community, and they continue to face an uncertain
future with no easy answers right now.
We must stand in support of them, keep pressure on our congressional
representatives to pass legislation that would provide a pathway to legal
status, and make sure that on a local level, we are funding
access to immigration legal services. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Next, we have Sofia Chunga-Pizarro,
program coordinator for Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, or
ICIR.
Test.
Good morning. My name is Sofia Chunga, and I am a program coordinator at the
Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
Together with over 100 member and partner organizations, ICIR
represents diverse immigrant and refugee communities throughout the city of
Chicago and the state of Illinois.
We organize as a coalition for an equitable society rooted in dignity
and respect for all, regardless of immigration status.
One of those resources is through ICIR's New Americans Initiative program,
NAI, where community organizations across Illinois provide
citizenship and DACA application renewal assistance to immigrant
communities. This includes an income and need-based
scholarship program that covers the DACA renewal fee for eligible
applicants.This renewal is supposed to happen every two years,
currently with a fee of $555 or
$605, depending on whether it's submitted on
paper or online, and it doesn't guarantee your renewal will be
approved.
Five years ago, ICIR announced our DACA renewal scholarship in fiscal
year '22.
Since then, over 9,400 DACA recipients across the state of
Illinois have received the scholarship, including individuals that have gone
on to become staff at ICIR or other member organizations.
Every year since then, we have organized to win critical funding for community
organizations to administer the NAI program in their communities across the city
and state.
At every level, DACA protections, and by extension, those resources that
are available only exist because of the organizing and resilience
of immigrant youth and families.
Last quarter, our member organization, renewal Family Alliance,
shared ongoing challenges, such as an increased number of concerning calls from
individuals who report that many applicants, despite applying four
to five months in advance, are still waiting for approvals.
Many are now seeking to file their renewals six to eight months before
expiration, risking rejection from the administration for filing too
early.
These systematic uncertainties pose real threats to DACA recipients who are
at risk of losing their jobs and ability to keep up with a rapidly
increasing cost of living, leaving thousands in limbo for their
futures.
Over the last 14 years, DACA has been a lifeline for so many
immigrants in the city of Chicago.
However, the temporary nature of this program has proved to be burdensome for
many people.
It is clear how attacks on DACA, including the increasing delays for
renewals and the detention and deportation of DACA recipients, have
exacerbated conditions of vulnerability and
uncertainty. These conditions ripple across our communities
and are compounded by the ongoing relentless operations by ICE in cities
across the country.
We urge Congress to move forward legislation like renewing immigration provisions
of the Immigration Act of 1929, which would provide a clear
and simple avenue for people in the US for at least seven years,
including DACA recipients, to gain lawful permanent residence status and
ultimately become full citizens of this country.
We already know that access to DACA has been limited, and that we must
continue to both ensure immediate relief and demand the pathway
to legalization for all that our families and communities deserve.
Thank you.
Thank you very much. Finally, from TheDream.US, we have joining
virtually, President Gabby Pacheco and COO,
Dr. Hayne Lee.
Can you hear us?
Yes. We can hear you.
Okay, great. Good morning, members of the City Chicago of
Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
Thank you for convening us. We're really grateful to be here today.
My name is Dr. Hayne Lee. I'm the chief operating officer of
TheDream.US. I just want to make sure, we did prepare some
slides, that those get shared, or are we sharing our own slides?
Yes. Let us check right now on our end. Yep. We're getting them up right now.
Okay, wonderful. Thank you.
Yeah, I don't know where to go from here.
So I can get started here because I do see the first slide being shown.
But we are the nation's largest and leading organization serving
Dreamers both with and without DACA or TPS in the nation.
We're at the intersection of higher education, career development,
immigration supports, and advocacy.
And we are a national organization, but we are very proud to be a strong
partner in the state of Illinois. We partner with eight partner
colleges mostly in the Chicago area.
And I'm so sorry, could we go back to the first slide?
And in the last 13 years, we're so proud to have awarded
over 13,000 scholarships to Dreamers nationwide.
This summer, we have passed a milestone for us, which is over 5,000
college graduates, which is incredible.
And we are in 19 states working with close to 80 partner
institutions.
Next slide.
So this year, we were really proud to release our
report called "When Dreamers Rise, Our Cities Rise." We
encourage you to scan
this code right here so you can access the report.
Given our national scope of who we serve and what we do,
we have a very unique data set on Dreamers in
college and what happens to them after they graduate, and that's the number one
question we get. And we were really, really proud and honored to release this
report, which specifically focuses on the contributions of our
Chicago and Illinois scholars and the alumni on the local
economy and the state.
Next slide.
So a couple of key takeaways we wanted to share.
Overall, in the state of Chicago, we have awarded over 1,000
scholarships to students, and of those, 400
have already graduated. And so this report specifically
dives deeper into the outcomes of 371 of those
Chicago scholars who graduated with a bachelor's degree and are giving
back to their communities. And our findings are incredible and really
speak to the power of what DACA and having work
authorization, combined with a college degree, can mean on the
social mobility of Dreamers and their families, and ultimately
benefit their local communities and the state.So the
majority of those alumni, over 80%, have DACA or
TPS. They have some form of work authorization.
And when we look at the post-graduate outcomes of that population, over
90% are employed, working, or have started their own
business. And the ramifications are huge because
almost all of our Chicago and Illinois college graduates
stay local. They do not move out of the state, and they're mostly
employed in local businesses, in institutions of higher
education, in the K through 12 public system.
We see that one out of four of our Chicago and Illinois
Dreamer college graduates are working in education, for example,
many in the city's public school system as K through 12
teachers, and they're making significant contributions in public and
social services, business, healthcare, and medicine.
And when we look at our DACA recipients and our TPS holders
who graduate, many of them go on to earn an income that
allows them to
raise their families out of poverty.
So we're seeing that within a year of graduating from college, two out of
three of our college graduates are out-earning their parents
combined. We've heard some incredible testimonials already here today
about what that means in terms of home ownership, being able to start
their own family. This has real life consequences when you're
able to access an opportunity that opens
doors. And what does this mean for the people of
Chicago and the state of Illinois?
With this type of earning power, our DACA recipients, our DACA
alumni, are churning back approximately $12 million
in annual salary earnings into the local economy, which
also translates to about $2.5 million to $3
million in local, state, and federal taxes.
And that has huge implications for all of us who are permanent residents, who are
citizens, because we are asking our DACA recipients to
pay into systems for our Social Security, for our Medicare,
for which they won't see a dime out of or benefit from unless Congress acts
and provides permanent protections for this group.
So one thing I'll add is that our
scholarship population encompasses both those with DACA, but also
those without. So if we go to the next slide, I'll just emphasize what
has been reiterated here today about the importance of thinking about our
broader Dreamer population. So if we look at our
current students who are enrolled in college, three out of four of
our scholars in Chicago do not have DACA.
They do not have protections. And they're navigating a very, very
different system and post-graduate pathways.
If we look at our college graduates, the earning
differentials between those who do have work authorization and access
to DACA is very, very different from those who are fully undocumented,
who are earning about 45% less when it comes
to annual earning potential.
If we look at the pipeline and the talent pipeline, we're seeing that
there are about 3,000 high school students graduating from
Chicago's public high schools every year who are undocumented,
again, now mostly fully undocumented.
And so the impact and the need for state, for federal action
is really, really critical. And with that, I'll pass it to Gabby.
Thank you, Hayne.
Good morning, council members. I'm Gabby Pacheco.
I'm President CEO of TheDream.US.
And today, I'm sitting here next to Dr.
Lee in Washington, DC. And I can tell you as a
person that lives in Florida what the city of Chicago,
what you all are doing is giving all of us hope.
And so we just wanted to say thank you for that.
And the DACA resolution that you have in front of you is going to
be really critical because DACA has been one of the
most successful integration immigration policies that we have
seen in our nation's history. And it shows how Dreamers have been
able to integrate and be able to really show their
talents. But unfortunately, as it's been mentioned
before, DACA is only temporary, and its
temporary nature has allowed for many young people to feel a lot of
anxiety for what we're seeing right now with DACA delays to lose
their jobs. And so this is why it's really critical that we
highlight why the DACA program has been important, but also say
it's not enough, and push our members of Congress to also pass,
once and for all, the DREAM Act. And I want to say that we wrote
this report, "When Dreamers Rise, Our Cities Rise,"
really to be able to show what our scholars have been able to
do, but more importantly, what this remarkable
city and this state has done to ensure that Dreamers have
access to what they need in order for them to be able to be
teachers and doctors and nurses and social workers.
So we want to say thank you. We hope you read this report.
We hope to continue to collaborate with the colleges and universities
that partner with us at TheDream.US, and we just want to say
thank you for your leadership, and we look forward to highlighting and continuing
to highlight the work that you all do.
Thank you very much for your remarks.
Thank you for all the presenters and remarks.
I have a series of questions, but I think I'll defer to our colleagues first,
see if they have any questions. Before we open it up, I'd like to remind
everyone who provided testimony to please state their name, title, and
organization before they answer any questions for the record.
Any questions from our colleagues today? Alderperson Rodriguez.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and II appreciate your
efforts in bringing this forward,
along with Alderwoman Gutierrez.
First, to the panelists, thank you.
You're shining light on a very important issue.
To those in the public who are still here because you care so much about this
issue, I want to say from the bottom of my heart, thank you for your organizing,
but thank you for showing up. And I know all of you, I saw many of
you out on 26th Street, on other areas, when we
had the Gestapo show up in the last couple of months.
And I want to say thank you for putting your bodies on the line, and
thank you for being so strong all over the
city.
Minnesota had a crazy presence of Gestapo, much
higher than we had in some respects.
But so many organizers from Minnesota talked
about learning from what we did here in Chicago.
So, we know that these efforts have been curtailed,
and we know it's because of our organizing. We keep us safe.
So I want to thank you all for keeping us all safe, and from the bottom of my
heart, extended gratitude on behalf of the city of Chicago and the
residents of all of the city, and thank the panelists for your work.
I don't have so much of a question. I got a lot of comments.
Sure.
I know you're going to come up with the questions.
The fact is, one in five Chicagoans is an immigrant.
So I want to give some context here.
Six hundred thousand Chicagoans are immigrants, and hundreds of thousands of
more are the children and grandchildren of immigrants.
That means we are a city of immigrants.
26th Street,
my Mecca, my community where I grew up,
is the Magnificent 2 Miles. We are second to nobody.
Stop saying Second Magnificent Mile. We're the Magnificent 2 Miles.
That's right.
And we generate significant tax revenues,
$900 million
in sales just on 26th Street, over 500 business
licenses on 26th Street.
That's because of immigrant entrepreneurs, and that's because of
immigrant consumers from all over the Midwest that come to shop on
26th Street, and let alone all the other immigrant business
districts like Archer Avenue and all the places along
Montrose and everywhere across our great city.
The fact is, our economy
demands that we have a pathway to
citizenship.
We fail. Look, I'm a part of the Democratic Party.
I'm a ranking member of the Democratic Party in the state and the
county.
I'm a proud Democrat.
But I'm also
a Democrat that believes in accountability.
And we need to be smart.
My colleague and I were just talking about this.
This next election matters.
We need the federal government and whoever's going to lead us next, because it's
not going to be a Trump acolyte as far as I'm concerned.
It can't be. We need Congress to change,
but we need to pass comprehensive immigration reform
so we are not leaving our most vulnerable on the table
for times when fascist dictators can come in
and put them at risk. Look, it's fitting that we're having
this conversation the day we're starting the Mundial, the World
Cup.
Right?
Thank you. And we're starting it with
Mexico playing South Africa.
My allegiances are very clear, as you can tell by my T-shirt
here, by my shirt.
But we've got people coming from throughout the world coming
to play a game. They wear different color
jerseys.
But all they want to do is score goals.
They want to defend. They want to be a part of their team.
They don't want special treatment, many of them at least
don't want special treatment. They just want to compete to be able to
succeed, represent their country, represent their families,
and to be successful at their sport.
That's what DACA recipients are.
People who want to contribute to our country, who want to be doctors,
nurses, teachers, who want to be Teamster truck drivers,
and want to serve in government, want to be nonprofit leaders.
Our DACA recipients come to this country, many of which didn't know they
were coming here. They showed up here, and all they
know is the United States of America or
Chicago or La Villita or Humboldt Park,
and they just want to give to their society. They want to give back.
They want their children and grandchildren
to achieve their dreams.
Very much like those who come here
to compete, they are coming here to make a better society.
We need to make sure that we are strengthening DACA programs, that
we are fighting for DACA, but let's not lose sight.
This next election cycle is critically important, and we need to
come out in droves. Everyone who's eligible needs to
come out.
My dad's been here in this country for over 70 years, and he's still a legal
permanent resident. I was telling my colleague he doesn't
travel abroad.
If he could physically, he wouldn't be traveling abroad for fear of not being able
back in this country. He's of legal status. That's not right.
It's not right that DACAmented people are losing their jobs.
It's not right that DACAmented people are fearing for their own safety and won't
travel abroad because of their status right now. That's not right.
We got to make this right. We got to make sure to hold my party
accountable and everyone accountable to make sure that we pass
comprehensive immigration reform because that's
what our economy needs.That's what everyone
needs
to be able to have a broader economy, more people working in it, working
to sustain our system. Heck, we know that our Social Security system
has been made solvent by undocumented immigrants in this country.
Let's talk truth.
So once again, to all the panelists, to all the
thank
you very much for
all you do. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you.
Next we have Alderwoman Rodriguez-Sanchez.
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you so much for your testimonies.
Again, I want to echo my colleague.
Thank you to all of you for being here today and for all the work that
everybody has been doing for decades
in order to advance the lives of
immigrants here in Chicago and in the whole
country. I want to tell a little story that I don't think I have ever
shared with this council, but the reason why I am
here in Chicago still, and I stayed here is
because
of immigrants.
When I first moved to Chicago, I moved here to
work for a theater company. It's called the Albany Park Theater
Project, and one of my first projects with them was called
"Homeland," and it was
a play about immigration and about our
immigration broken system.
I was a mentor there. It was a youth theater company, and I came from Puerto Rico.
I was an organizer, so when I started working with that company, I sort of
shifted the way in which I wanted to tell the stories.
I didn't want to tell stories about what was happening to people.
I wanted to tell stories about how people were resisting the things that were
happening to them.
So I would take my young people to organizing meetings
to hear the stories of the people that were fighting and resisting, and then we
would tell those stories on stage.
We would tell those stories as a people's history of the immigrant rights
movement.
And something incredible happened in that process
because I started taking my young people to all of these organizing
meetings, and as they started hearing the stories of these
young people from the Immigrant Youth Justice League,
a lot of my young people realized that they were undocumented.
They didn't know.
And
that was a really
challenging thing for them to discover, right?
Their parents have been trying to keep them safe,
and they don't want them to say anything, so they just didn't
know. And when they saw these young people that were fighting, they wanted
to join, and they started
becoming active with EYJL.
And when the Coming Out of the Shadows rally, it happened in
2010,
some of my young people decided that they were going to go to that rally, and they
wrote their speeches, and they stood in front of Federal Plaza,
and they said out loud,
"I am undocumented, I am unafraid,
and I will not apologize for being here." And
I saw my kids saying that
right in front of marshals. They were so vulnerable.
They could have been arrested. They could have been taken.
And I stood in that plaza looking at these incredibly brave
young people, thinking, "This is what bravery looks like."
And I stayed because in Chicago I found a
home for struggle, for people who are going
to do whatever they need to do to change the conditions in which we're living and
to push like hell for the lives that we deserve.
I want every DACA recipient and every immigrant here to
know, not only you belong here, but we are so lucky that you're here.
You are so lucky that you build our communities.
We are so lucky
that you work so hard every day to not only
produce
money and an economy that is stable for the city.
Yes, that is what you do with your work, but as human beings,
you are so precious to us.
Mm.
You make this city so much better,
and there's no way that the city of Chicago can ever repay
immigrants of all status
how they help this city be incredible.
So that's one part. I want to echo also
what my colleague here was talking about in terms of what we need to be demanding.
I feel like so many times in this debate, we have
fallen so short.
We need to ask for the most. We have to stop getting
middle of the road and incremental stuff because this is where
that leads. You're safe for a little bit.
You're not actually safe. We are not actually safe.
None of us is safe right now.
And first they came for the immigrants here,
but that's not all they're coming for, and we all need to know
that. This is a moment that requires solidarity, and we need a
movement that is going to be unified in the demands to protect every
single human being and not letting anybody fall behind.
We cannot leave anybody behind.
Oof, thank you for allowing me to say all of this.
I didn't know that I wanted to say all of these things.
Uh.
But
this hearing has touched me deeply because I know what is happening.
I am in the rapid response. I'm in every chat, and
I know what everybody's doing, what we all are doing to protect each
other.But I do think that it's going to be really
important to build multiracial solidarity.
We need solidarity across communities, and I think that this particular
issue with DACA is one that requires that we
all join forces and have a
very
clear
set of demands for what our communities need and
deserve.
I do have a question around
what do we believe that electeds should be doing
right now to support
people in the community? Because as I said before,
when I came to Chicago, the people who became my family immediately
were all immigrants.
And now all of those people are struggling, and
they are scared that they're not going to be able to
stay in the city, that they might
be separated from their families, that they can't find a job.
So I want to make sure that
as electeds in our offices, in our city, we can
provide whatever support we can for
people who are struggling in this moment.
So any guidance would be really appreciated. Thank you, Chair.
No, thank you,
Rosana.
Before I get into questions, I wanted to first thank you for
everything you shared with us. Because I think,
and you know this from the job that we do, it feels like we're drowning all the
time with so many different things we do at every different level.
And it could be
commonplace to fall under that without having the clarity of
what you just shared with us. And I appreciate you not only sharing the story, but
the points.
It's extremely challenging that we
recognize the fact that there is
a program here we're acknowledging that has been in place for 14 years.
We also, and I appreciate our speakers for sharing this, acknowledge that it's a
half measure,
that it is a compromise
in a world where we shouldn't even have to engage in these conversations.
That when we think about
what this nation is, and I know many of our folks here who organize
understand it,
we're talking about stolen land,
and rules that have been placed
based in white supremacy to keep those who come
here
from being treated as equals.
And that division has been
very successful as we're now looking to see what's happening at the
federal government and how we've gotten to this point.
So I want to thank you for highlighting that.
I do think there's been,
I can't call it anything but a failure of the Democratic Party, and that's as
someone who identifies as a Democrat,
in the half measures, in the half speak, in worrying about polls
and what someone's going to say rather than addressing the reality.
That if all the folks who are currently undocumented, whether they're DACA or
not, were brought into the system and recognized as
members of this nation, as citizens,
we would solve a whole bunch of problems related to our economy.
You'd be growing our base. You wouldn't have the division that is now
causing so much challenges between different communities.
We know that this country's been based on stolen land and
on stolen people who have built it, and we want to
acknowledge our descendants of slaves here.
It is all one larger community, and every time we think about the different filters
used to separate, it becomes a problem.
I agree with you
fully. I don't think there's a way we turn any of this around without calling it
what it is and without settling. These aren't asks that we're making.
These are demands and rights that we continue to fight for, and I want to thank
everyone here for attending, all the folks who have organized for
generations
and decades before we were even in this council, because we wouldn't even have
these conversations without that work.
And so I want to thank you all.
You got me thinking about my life growing up.
My parents came, they were undocumented.
I had to help them to try to learn to get citizenship as a
child, putting in videos and teaching them the language.
And so when I think about the work being done now, I don't think
of myself as being any more special than anybody else.
I think of myself as lucky. There are tons of people out here going through the
same experience that we have, and it's even harder now.
And so I
want to thank you for raising that point.
Want to thank the organizers, and want to thank you all for the work, and now I
will try to get to some questions. First I'll breathe.
Okay. Thank you for the update. Thank you very much, Diana, for all your
work.
Sorry. If there is any guidance that we can get to offices
right now in terms of
maybe mass actions or demands. We want to
know.
Yes, as well. Also want to partner with you to get that information to folks.
And so I've got a couple of questions before we can get to the vote.
I think these are related for different matters.
So first, Cecilia. So in the Texas
litigation that you mentioned earlier,
Texas was successful in their efforts because
they were able to articulate damage caused.
How is that defined? How did they make that argument?
Yeah. They highlighted what
was happening within the state of Texas
and specifically the argument
aroundlike what it was having on their economy.
I don't have more details on that, but it's very specific to what is
happening within the state
as a result of people having access to work permits.
Okay. Yeah. If even through the chair to follow, because I think I'm curious as to
whether they were making the case about overall immigration, because they're a
border state, compared to DACA recipients in particular,
right? And I think there's a lot to learn in all those arguments should anyone else
continue to go that route. So I appreciate that.
I think I know the answer to the
question, unfortunately, this next one, but I think looking at
it, how precarious are we talking as far as the program itself
when we're talking about a Supreme Court that has been gamed by the
Republican Party and this president?
We're talking about potentially losing it,
right?
That's what makes it so precarious is that it's very hard to even
try to
have any kind of foresight. Because even outside of the
context of what might continue happening in the courts, the Trump
administration can also take additional action.
So,
coming back to the message that we've heard consistently about the
uncertainty, because it's not just
the courts, it's also these policy memos, it's also any additional
action from this Trump administration, which makes everything
very hard to even make basic life decisions
around.
Yeah, and I think
the part that makes me very cynical in thinking about it, right, is
there is a lot that can be done through executive action.
If things are then brought to litigation, then appealed in the Supreme Court, and
that's game, that's a whole another set of problems.
But for us, and as we're calling out the Democratic Party as we can,
is in the world where we sustain past all this, having
similar energy to strengthen everything and codify things is important.
So
yeah, I appreciate the information.
I think what we'll do on our website,
welcometochicago.org, is any updates we get from you all as
well to continue to share, as well as for you, Centro
Romero, The Dream U.S., all of the programs and updates to make
sure people can access all the work that's being done there as well.
So thank you for that. My next question is for
President Pacheco of The Dream U.S.
So you shared on your presentation, kind of reporting related
to annual earnings and taxes collected at the national level
as well as per state. Is that something that is regularly
collected? Is there a portal? Is there information that the public can
glean should they need it?
Yes, that's a good question. We don't have that information
publicly available just yet, but we definitely are planning to do
so. We have multiple reports, though, out on our website about the
incredible contributions of dreamers nationwide.
Every other year, we have released a report.
We actually just, in light of the
upcoming DACA anniversary, June 15th, on Monday, we'll be releasing our
2026, our latest alumni survey report, which looks at the
contributions of dreamers nationwide for our
graduates. But we encourage folks to not only look at our
website, but we also partner with Presidents
Alliance,
and they have a higher education immigration
portal with a lot of rich data on the
contributions of immigrants in higher ed, the state of state
policy across the country. So please do check out the
resources we have.
Yeah, thank you. I think the more we can share that, the better, right?
Yeah.
I think we have folks who, and I don't want to assume of the room, but
I think I have a good assumption, who largely are in agreement from a values
basis. But we have many folks who may not be there with us,
that in order to meet them where they're at, maybe the conversation needs to be
more of an economic one, right? So I think being able to have that information is
important. And I know it's been only about
six months, but similarly, are there plans to think about the costs
related to
the delayed renewals when you have folks who can't continue
in their jobs, when you then have to figure out what government has to do to
intervene to help people who then lose their jobs, right?
Those incur costs as well. So in thinking about the
long-term arguments, it's also looking at not only are we not
gaining the revenue that could be brought into the economy in taxes, we're also
spending more to really address the same issue in a different manner.
And so I didn't know if there were thoughts about getting any tracking related to
those impacts as well.
Yeah. Definitely, that's a great point, and one of the things that
we would like to also invite folks is to our website
dreamsdelay.com. We have been gathering
information there from dreamers across the country, and
of course in Illinois as well. And we have been on the back end
collecting a lot of the data, and so this is one good point to make sure
that we can also do a report on this.
The other thing is that when we do have the
other report that's specifically on Illinois
on our website as well, so people feel free to share it, read
it. I think it's a really important report, and it really highlights the
incredible work that Illinois has been doing on integrating
immigrants.
Yeah, we absolutely will.
And then I guess my final question, and this is for
Susana and Sofia, but anyone can also jump in.
Here's what I know from my experience prior to all this.
You all do so much with such little resource,
and that's prior to watching the federal government weaponize itself
against cities and its own people.
So thathas increased the amount of work you all have had to do just for folks who
are scared because of the deportations and the
way ICE is invading cities.
How much
more challenge is it now thinking about the delayed
renewals on top of the rapid response, on top of the workload you guys
already have, and the limited amount of resource?
How has that changed how you even try to address the issue on a
day-to-day basis? Because again, it was challenging before. What's it like now?
Harder.
Yeah.
Definitely harder.
I think it's harder
as an organization, but also in a personal matter
because I'm
in a limbo. I just
mentioned that my grandma passed away three weeks ago.
So emotionally, my mental health is not there, and
I need to be okay in order for me to help others, right?
So at a personal level, if I'm not okay, then I'm not going to be able to help
others, because I have the pressure of family situations,
then the fear of losing a home that I just recently bought,
right?
Or my work, but then also seeing that it's not only me, that it's
everybody else. I think that that's what gives me hope too, that
we live in a city where we're welcome,
that we have different funding sources like the Chicago Legal Protection Fund that
helps
us help other.
But it is harder
as an organization, and many of you guys are maybe familiar with
Centro Romero.
We have staff that are dedicated to the work that we do,
and
we're Latinos. We usually say, " Donde
come uno, come el otro." Right? Entonces, with the
little money that we have or the little support that we have, we try to give it to
the other ones. But we do definitely need support, because otherwise
it's going to get harder.
Absolutely. Sofia?
Yeah. So, hello. Perfect. So as I
mentioned, ISER's New Americans Initiatives program
is what we do is specifically help people
understand and give member organizations and partner
organizations to help people naturalize, but then also the DACA renewal
scholarship is a very big thing. But our member organizations
are having trouble having people to
take the chance and to use the
resources that are out there.
Having to convince people to renew their DACA or to even
actually get their legal permanent residency card.
People are scared to actually take those steps that they have
because of all the ICE enforcement going on.
And some of those attacks are the DACA renewals
have gotten more expensive, and that's another administrative attack that's been
going on. It used to be $495, now it can go up
to $605. So
our organizations, our member organizations, and we're
all just trying to keep up to date with all the policy changes and
doing the work and making sure that the people know that they
can get these services, and that we're there to support them throughout the
process.
Thank you. I don't know if any other members wanted to chime in.
Yes.
Okay.
If I may, this is Gabby Pacheco with TheDream.US.
So just echoing a little bit of what just was shared here.
Now more than ever, DACA used to be something that you can do per se.
So you can do it on your own. It was very easy to fill out.
The forms have gotten a lot harder.
There are a lot of tricks in there, and
representation is now more important than ever.
Unfortunately, a lot of people cannot afford to be able to
hire an attorney to do a simple thing as a DACA form.
But unfortunately, what we're finding is that USCIS
is asking for more information. We've actually had individuals
that applied for DACA in 2012 that are now being
denied from their original DACA application for things
that just are unconscionable, just make no sense.
So legal representation's really critical.
The second thing, as it was mentioned, DACA started
with a payment of 365, it went to 485.
Today, to do it online, to submit online, it costs
555, and if you paper file it, it costs
even more.
We know the economy, we know that DACA recipients are also
suffering because of inflation, et cetera, and
$555 is a lot of money. So we are finding
needing to do funds to support individuals to help them pay
for their DACA renewal. And then the last is an invitation.
So we have over 300 students that are Dream.US
scholarship recipients in the Chicago area
starting this fall, and we have an internship and fellowship opportunity.
We would love to be able to provide that for you.
Alderwoman Rodriguez Sanchez, if you have space for interns where they're
going to have meaningful experience,
please partner with us. Any one of you there and the audience,
businesses, organizations. The great thing
is that we pay the stipend,
and you get really amazing, incredible interns, fellows
in your area. So, please let us know.
We have a whole entire program. You do have to apply.
We got to make sure that this is going to be meaningful internships for our
students. But like I said, 300 or more of
our Dream.US scholars are going to be starting this fall, and they would love to
have an opportunity to learn from you all.
Thank you. I don't think you have to tell us twice as far as- ...
folks who also need the help, but I appreciate that.
So thank you all for everything here.
That was my final question. I
thinkIn
the spirit of not dividing us,
this city has a lot that it is fighting against.
Oh, we have a question? Yes, sorry.
No, absolutely.
No.
The other lead co-sponsor. No, that's fine.
Alderman Gutierrez.
Thank you so much,
Chairman. And my apologies before, I was driving after the
emergency that we had last night in the ward with this
weather. But I just want to reiterate my support, and thank you
all, and the great organizations that have been working throughout the years,
because this has not been something for a few years.
I know you've fought for it for years and over
years, and we still do not have those protections to all of our
constituents. And I want to reiterate my support in
being an advocate for this fight, because we need to continue to
help our constituents, because they deserve
that peace of mind. They were brought in as
kids,
but they've been here since. They learned the language. They went to school.
They're working. They're contributing to our country and the economy.
They're business owners. They're professionals.
They have their families now. And as much as we
can do here in the local level is to pitch in
our support. As I said before, we don't have that last word
to make it happen, but we can continue to advocate and push for that to
happen.
So we will continue to do it. Thank you so much for all the great work you've done,
because I know it's not only Monday through Friday, 9:00 to 5:00.
I know you're there
every day,
in the weekends, supporting each other and also helping all
of those that do not know how even to apply or renew it.
And even though they don't know if it's going to get renewed, you're still helping
them to have hope, continuing to support them,
and to give that helping hand that we all deserve.
Thank you to the committee, Diana, and all of the staffers in the committee,
because they've also been great going throughout our city, providing
resources. In the times that we're living now, and you know
I'm an immigrant myself, too, and it's a time to step up and unite
us all. It's not about races. It's not about who came in first or who
last. It's about we all are here. We all are working, paying
taxes, and making sure our families thrive
in this country and in this beautiful city of Chicago.
So thank you so much to everyone for the hard work you guys are doing.
Thank you.
Oja, too. Thank you.
Yeah, thank you so much. I think it's
perfectly put. I
try to
work on myself on not
falling into some of the programming that we think through.
And I say that because,
one, if you're a DACA recipient out here and you're watching any of this,
I want you all to know that you're our neighbors first.
And if you're in Chicago, you're a Chicagoan first.
And rather than thinking about different groups in that manner,
in the moment we all find ourselves in, we're currently one people in one
community. And so I ask anybody here or anyone
listening, documented or undocumented, DACA or
not, born here or not,
to find ways to help and support. So whether it's finding time to
volunteer, even helping people with applications to help expand capacity,
if it's donating to the organizations because you may not have the time to
volunteer,
we're going to need everyone here to help.
We are one community and one people.
I am convinced and will always be convinced that we will outwork and outlast
the fascists. And so I ask all of you to do your part.
I thank you. I think this resolution is a marker
showing our support for where we currently
started. I think there's much more work to be done because there has not been
really any meaningful
improvement as it relates to the immigration policies of this nation.
We have much more to push for, and I thank all of you for all the work you do day
in and day out to improve the lives of folks who need the
help. And so
as all the presentations and questions have now concluded, I want to
thank all of our subject matter experts for joining us today.
Can I have a motion to vote on the resolution?
Alderwoman Gutierrez so moves. All those in favor of passing the resolution respond
by saying "Aye." Aye.
All those opposed by saying "Nay."
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
I will report this vote as a recommendation to pass at the next city council
meeting on June 17th, 2026. Copies of any supplemental
materials will be sent to you, and all materials will be hosted on the
CIRR website,
welcomechicago.org, within a week.
Any through the chair follow-ups will be sent to alders, pending response from
IGA and presenters. With no further business before the committee, may I have a
motion to adjourn?
So moved by Rodriguez.
Thank you. Alderwoman Rodriguez Sanchez so moves.
Hearing no objections, so ordered.
This meeting of the Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights is now
adjourned.