By Kyle Southern, Ph.D. – PCC Executive Director
Like millions of people across the country, last weekend I was horrified to see another person killed in the streets of Minneapolis–this time 37-year-old Alex Pretti–by masked agents acting on behalf of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Such acts reverberate far beyond individual incidents, shaping whether students and families feel safe enough to attend school, pursue and complete higher education, go to work, and otherwise engage in everyday life. Wherever they occur, I am horrified by ICE’s continued impulse toward vigilantism. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us to remain “cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states.”
As we expected at the outset of Operation Midway Blitz here in Illinois, ICE has brought terror to our communities, including the detention and abduction of college students on their campuses. We can’t be surprised when students at all levels are reluctant even to leave their homes to go to class, for fear of bringing upon themselves or their family members the kind of lethal action ICE agents too often employ.
ICE campaigns like those in Chicago and Minneapolis are an affront to justice and to any notion of democracy. In Chicago last September, Silverio Villegas González lost his life to ICE after dropping off his child at school. The incident closely followed the pattern of more recent events leading to the killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis. Each loss of life is a tragedy; the broad fears these and other actions have fueled also pose a direct threat to efforts to advance educational opportunity and a more equitable society.
As an American, I am distressed by the self-evident contradiction of the very rationale offered for this country’s existence. The Declaration of Independence cites King George’s sending “swarms of officers to harass our people” and keeping “among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislatures” as primary offenses justifying a break with Great Britain. The revolution sparked by the King’s offenses 250 years ago ultimately handed down the country we have today.
Now we’re asked again what we will do with it. First, as a nation, we must strengthen the power of people to teach, learn, advocate, vote, and hold officials accountable for violating the public trust—and the Constitution.
As advocates, we can–and must–continue to name the injustices that surround us, and not be thrown off our purpose when told we haven’t seen what we just saw. We must also equip students with the lessons of a history marked by continuous resistance to progress by powerful forces, even in the face of efforts by the federal administration to erase markers of that history. We can empower them with advocacy training and tools to ensure their experiences and voices are central to policy considerations in legislatures and on campuses. We can foster spaces for students to put those skills and tools to use.
And we have to be clear about the negative implications for education of ICE incursions. Our colleagues at the UChicago Consortium on School Research recently found that, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, middle and high school rates of chronic absenteeism (missing more than 10% of school days) have risen by about 20 percentage points over recent years across Chicago Public Schools. High absenteeism greatly heightens concerns about learning loss and, longer term, college completion rates. Can we expect the ongoing presence of masked, armed agents threatening students and their families to resolve this problem?
The Partnership for College Completion has worked tirelessly for a decade to address the inequities that continue to mark higher education across Illinois–as they do nationwide. PCC will hold fast to basing our advocacy in the first principles of doing what is right for students, guided by the lessons of data, research, and lived experience. We stand in solidarity with the students and families living with the fear and uncertainty created by these ICE actions, and we will continue to center their safety, dignity, and opportunity in our work.
PCC will continue working with our partners toward a stronger, more equitable higher education system for all students–regardless of residency or citizenship status–because that effort is essential to our shared future.
Kyle Southern, Ph.D. is the Executive Director of the Partnership for College Completion. With over 15 years of experience advancing equity in higher education policy and a distinguished track record of leadership in both national and state-based organizations, Dr. Southern has brought visionary leadership and deep policy expertise to PCC’s next chapter.
Photo credit: City of Minneapolis