by Alliyah LusuegroThere’s an image that’s stayed with me for weeks: A sea of people holding up “Mass Deportation Now” signs at the Republican National Convention.
Since then, I’ve been plagued with nightmares of mass raids by the military and police across the country. I see millions of families being torn apart, including families with citizen children. And I see DACA recipients — like me — carried away from the only life we’ve ever known.
Mass deportation wasn’t just a rallying cry at the GOP convention. It’s a key plank of Project 2025, a radical document written by white nationalists listing conservative policy priorities for the next administration.
And it would be a disaster — not just for immigrants, but for our whole country.
I moved to the United States when I was six. Until my teenage years, I didn’t know I was undocumented — I only knew I was from the Philippines. I grew up in Chicago with my twin brother. Our parents worked hard, volunteered at my elementary school, and ensured we always had food on the table. They raised us to do well and be good people.
But when my twin and I learned that we were undocumented, we realized that living our dreams was going to be complicated — on top of the lasting fear of being deported.
Everything changed right before I entered high school in 2012: The Obama administration announced the Deferred Actions for Childhood Arrivals policy, or DACA. The program was designed to protect young people like my twin and me who arrived in the U.S. at a young age with limited or no knowledge of our life before. We’re two of the 600,000 DACA recipients today.
DACA opened many doors for us. It’s allowed us to drive, attend college, and have jobs. And we’re temporarily exempt from deportation, a status we have to renew every two years.
DACA helped me set my sights high on my studies and career. Although I couldn’t apply for federal aid, with DACA I became eligible for a program called QuestBridge that granted me a full-ride scholarship to college. Today I work in public policy in the nation’s capital, with dreams of furthering my career through graduate school.
But if hardliners eliminate DACA and carry out their mass deportations, those dreams could be swept away. And it would be ugly — mass deportation would be a logistical disaster, taking decades and costing billions.
Imagine your friends, neighbors, colleagues, peers, and caretakers being dragged away from their homes. For me, it would mean being forced back to the Philippines, a place I haven’t seen in two decades. My partner, my friends, my work — all I’ve ever known is here, in the country I call home.
This country would suffer, too.
An estimated 11 million undocumented people live here. We’re doctors, chefs, librarians, construction workers, lawyers, drivers, scientists, and business owners. We fill labor shortages and help keep inflation down. We contribute nearly $100 billion each year to federal, state, and local taxes.
Fear-mongering politicians want you to believe we’re criminals, or that we’re voting illegally. But again and again, studies find that immigrants commit many fewer crimes than U.S.-born Americans. And though some of us have been long-time residents of this country, we cannot vote in state or federal elections.
Despite all the divisive rhetoric, the American people agree with immigration advocates: Our country needs to offer immigrants a path to legalization and citizenship. According to a Gallup poll last year, 68 percent of Americans support this.
My dark dreams of mass deportations are, thankfully, just nightmares for now. And my dreams of a secure future for my family and all people in this country outweigh my fears. We must do everything possible to keep all families together.
by Mark Richardson
by Max Lubbers, Chalkbeat Chicago
ST. JOSEPH -- St. Joseph-Ogden High School will introduce four new inductees to the St. Joseph-Ogden Hall of Fame during the Spartan football team's Homecoming game against Nokomis. The distinquished group includes 1960 graduate Dee Evans, former three-sport athlete Brandi Carmien Burnett, veteran teacher Kermit Esarey, and The Gary Olson Family
Below is a short biography and highlights about Brandi Burnett provided by the high school.
If you worked hard for a scholarship, paid your way through school, paid back loans or your family sacrificed for you to go to school, President Biden has shown that you were a big dummy.
Don’t knock yourself out. Just sit back and the government will throw you some crumbs to take care of you.
In a move that Biden had promised during his campaign he erased between $10,000 to $20,000 of debt from millions of Americans college spending spree extravaganza. Years ago, Americans starting learning to spend money like it’s water. Maybe they thought, “I won’t have to pay it back”. Their dream has come true. You and I along with the rest of America’s tax payers will get to pay at least a half trillion dollars of this debt.
This is just what you had been hoping for! More taxes! Oh wait, just those rich people in America will have to pay this off, right? Every American on some level will share in this new financial burden.
Universities are legally raping America’s families because we sign up and agree to pay the tuition. We do it to ourselves. Universities don’t put a gun to the heads of Americans and make us pay. Americans foolishly agree to this debt. Yet, most universities are the last sector in America to feel the pain of the economy. In 2020-2021, most of them received millions of free government paycheck protection program money. This is more government money that will be eaten by you – the taxpayer. Millions of American businesses also received tens of thousands to millions of dollars of free PPP money in the last two years that will also slam all Americans in more taxes.
Some tenured professors are making over $200,000, a year. Many University Presidents across the country are making over one million dollars a year, plus major perks. Many coaches make a million or more a year. Universities spend money like its water. They are the ones who need to be lending and collecting or forgiving some of this debt. Not you.
You probably already paid once. Now we get to pay more for the students and the Universities who just kept spending money. Why are you responsible for the foolish people who borrow $50,000 to $100,000 and more?
I believe in helping people, but Biden needs to pass some of this lending and collecting burden to the Universities. You the taxpayer keep giving the money. The universities want $30,000 to $50,000 a year and more. American families foolishly swallow the poison. Next, their financial insanity becomes everybody’s problem. Does this seem right to you?
Sadly, millions of Americans rack up college debt and never complete their degrees. Millions more get degrees they never use. You don’t need a college degree for a lot of jobs. Most jobs do require training that can be accomplished in far less time and money.
Congratulations if your debt is $10,000 to $20,000 lighter, but your debt will still have to be paid, by your friends, family, neighbors and others.
Consider spending the first two years in a community college or trade school. You can move on to the big-name school for your Junior and Senior years. The first two years are generally electives and classes you don’t enjoy that much anyway. You’ll save a lot of money and maybe grow up some before you land in a dorm room 200 miles away from home.
Dr. Glenn Mollette is a syndicated American columnist and author of Grandpa's Store, American Issues, and ten other books. He is read in all 50 states. The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily representative of any other group or organization.
This article is the sole opinions of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of The Sentinel. We welcome comments and views from our readers. Submit your letters to the editor or commentary on a current event 24/7 to editor@oursentinel.com.
Dr. Glenn Mollette is a syndicated American columnist and author of American Issues, Every American Has An Opinion and ten other books. He is read in all 50 states. The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily representative of any other group or organization.
This article is the sole opinions of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of The Sentinel. We welcome comments and views from our readers. Submit your letters to the editor or commentary on a current event 24/7 to editor@oursentinel.com.
My boyfriend, aged 32, embodies the quintessential extrovert—gregarious, enamored with nightlife, and perpetually surrounded by a coterie of approximately twenty friends who reside in close proximity and convene incessantly. Initially, I admired his vivacity and character.
