Ilana Umanskiy

President Trump’s immigration action has been startlingly swift and aggressive. For one Chicago student at a private high school, though, this news goes way beyond a headline or a partisan debate. With a parent who is an undocumented immigrant, this policy is personal.

The Midway is withholding the student’s identifying information for the safety of them and their family. 

“I feel an uncontrollable amount of fear,” the student said about Mr. Trump’s policies. “It’s just been persistent for all these days since he was elected.” 

The student described a numbness setting in: “I just don’t feel it anymore until I sit down and think about it that it’s like, oh, I’m actually really scared right now. Really scared.”

Decades ago, the student’s father was 15 years old when he came to the United States alone, the student said. He was escaping his impoverished home in Mexico, where a gang was threatening him and his family, the student said. He moved in with the student’s grandfather, who was already in the United States and working to earn a living to provide for the rest of the family in Mexico.

“He didn’t know what else to do, so he just went to [my grandfather], and started working,” the student said of their father. “They just kind of focused on work and sending money to the family.”

The student’s father periodically traveled back to see his family in Mexico, the student said. During these trips, the father met the student’s mother, who was in her final year at a university. She became pregnant and, under pressure from others to seek an abortion, she fled to the United States to be with the student’s father and give birth. A few months later, the baby was born. That child, a U.S. citizen, became the high school student who shared their story.

The couple, now in their 40s, live in Chicago with the student and their two younger siblings. After a decade trying to secure a work permit to work legally in this country, the student’s father received it last year. The student’s mother remains undocumented.

At home, the student said the family tries to remain positive despite the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants, which has included the revocation of student visas for international students, the detention of some immigrants who even had green cards giving them legal work status, and the deportation of some migrants to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Still, the student said their parents seem hopeful.

“I think they’re trying to be positive about it and just say, ‘Don’t worry about it. Everything’s going to work out,’” the student said. “They’re kind of betting on the Supreme Court to stop anything unconstitutional. At the moment, I believe our biggest concern is my mom, because she doesn’t have any papers.”

The student said that they feel deeply fearful of what the future might hold for their family. It is difficult to think about anything else, even amid schoolwork and friends.

“Scary is not a strong enough word to describe it,” the student said. “It’s frightening and uncertain because Trump is a wild card. He can do whatever he wants.”

The student said that they feel grateful for living in Illinois, a state led by Democrats, including Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who say they are aiming to protect residents even as Trump’s immigration crackdown proceeds. The city and state have policies to limit their cooperation with federal authorities’ efforts to deport undocumented immigrants. 

The student has closely followed news events related to the immigration crackdown. The student has been especially concerned by reports of conditions in prisons that have held people accused of being undocumented, in places like Louisiana and also CECOT, the “megaprison” in El Salvador.

“I’m also keeping tabs on that because Trump did make a joke about trying to make more and send more,” the student said. “That was very targeted. And it’s like, ‘Oh, we do not cross that line.’ He crossed it a long time ago.”

The student has a message for other high school students all over Chicago — and around the country. The student urges private school students not to detach themselves from this issue or to look away from the events that have rolled out day after day. This is not just something that is happening to other people, they said. It may be affecting your friends and fellow students, too. 

“Be humane,” the student said. “Just remember that we’re all people.”