A Chicago-area elementary school teacher has been placed on administrative leave after daring to express support for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on his personal Facebook account. According to Fox News, the teacher, who worked at Gary Elementary School in West Chicago, posted a simple message last week: “GO ICE.” That was enough to trigger a full-scale meltdown from activists in the heavily Hispanic community, who immediately launched a coordinated campaign to have the teacher fired. A flyer circulated online alongside a Change.org petition demanding the teacher’s termination and urging parents to keep their children home from school in protest. One user wrote:
I do believe [redacted] needs to fully feel how hurtful and alienating his words were. An empty school makes it unmistakable that his views do not align with this community. Ideally, that discomfort will lead him to choose employment elsewhere—without the district being pressured to violate due process or risk inviting additional danger into our community. He must be held accountable for the harm caused, even as we allow proper process to run its course. I trust the district to handle this responsibly and with care.” “To be clear — I will be keeping my kids home in solidarity with families in our community and across the country who are living in fear because of ICE, and as a clear message to [redacted] that what he posted is not acceptable to me. This is not about forcing the district to act prematurely or bypass due process—which could invite costly federal litigation or a national spotlight that brings ICE back to terrorize our community.
