Student coordinator Ko’u Hopkins co-hosts today with Alivia Hopkins (her younger sister), a local Girl Scout who is working toward her Gold Award. They discuss immigration enforcement with Illinois State Representative Sharon Chung. Rep. Chung explains how she is working to make anyone in Illinois feel safe and welcomed.
Transcribed by AI with human review:
Ko’u:
Hello, I am Ko’u Hopkins and I am co-hosting today with Alivia Hopkins. Alivia is a sophomore in high school and is working on her Girl Scout Gold Award on the topic of immigration. And for those who do not know what the Gold Award is, it is equivalent to the Eagle Scout Award. Alivia, we are very happy to have you here today.
Alivia:
Hello, I'm happy to be here today.
Ko’u:
And for today's Community Voices, we also have Representative Sharon Chung here today. She is a Representative from the 91st District covering McLean, Peoria, Tanswell, and Woodford counties, including Bloomington-Normal. Thank you so much for being here today.
Rep. Chung:
Thank you for having me.
Ko’u:
While we have you here today, Representative, I know that during this time there have been many hot issues. We want to get the news straight from you. Talk about what steps you are taking to ensure Illinois' laws protect immigrant victims of crime and encourage cooperation with law enforcement?
Rep. Chung:
In Illinois, we have the Trust Act, which was passed a number of years ago. About eight years ago, almost 9 now. What we're trying to do is to make sure that people who are immigrants are being protected, that we're working in tandem with law enforcement officers, that they're not turning over people who are possibly undocumented, or their information over to ICE or Border Patrol or anybody like that. Some other communities have taken it a step farther. I live in Bloomington, the Bloomington Police Department has made a concerted effort to make sure that, because it's known that immigrants and undocumented people are usually victims of crime. They are hesitant to report those crimes because they're afraid of themselves being turned in. In Bloomington our police department has made a very concerted effort to do outreach and make people understand that if they are victims of crime, they're undocumented, that they can feel free to report these crimes to bring the people to justice, but they themselves will not be at risk of being reported to immigration or law enforcement, Immigration Customs Enforcement.
Ko’u:
Do you support state-funded legal services or representation for low-income immigrants facing deportation or immigration proceedings? Why or why not?
Rep. Chung:
Yeah, absolutely. Here in Illinois, we have made some investments into getting money to organizations that do support these services. I always have a very personal story to tell because my parents are immigrants as well. And because of that, they were afforded the opportunities to be able to live their American dream, raise their family, to live and thrive. I want to see other people to have that experience and that opportunity as well. We have made concerted efforts and investments into helping people to get that, to be able to get the legal help that they need. We could always do more, but as it is right now, there are a lot of competing interests and needs for everyone in our community.
Alivia:
How will you work to ensure access to health care and mental health services for undocumented immigrants and their families in Illinois? If you think this is important, please explain why.
Rep. Chung:
Yes, there's a lot of people who are immigrants who have had to flee terrible situations in their home countries, people who are refugees. There's a lot of trauma that has built up, a lot of post-traumatic stress, a lot of those issues. We know a lot of times, especially with Asian immigrants, because my family is Asian, they're known to try and be very stoic and not reach out for mental help when they need it. This is a big issue, especially in the Asian community. The more we talk about it, the more that we make that care accessible to people, It is really, really important. The Immigration Project is an organization based in Normal. They have outlets, satellite offices, throughout central Illinois. They offer that sort of help as well. There's a counselor that does group therapy for those immigrants who need it and might not be able to easily access that care.
Ko’u:
For my Girl Scout Gold Award, I talked about Asian hate in the time of COVID-19. I know exactly what you're talking about, especially in the Asian community with immigration.
Alivia:
What is your position on Illinois state policies regarding driver's licenses or identification cards for undocumented residents?
Rep. Chung:
I think that, you know, I mean, people need driver's licenses so they can get to work. And, you know, immigrants, what they want to do a lot of times is to make an impact on their community, on their society, in their society, and to be able to work, right, and to provide for their families. So, you know, I'm very supportive of things like that. And I know that a lot of people think that this will lead to fraud or voter registration fraud, but that is not the case. We do have a lot of safeguards here in our state that protect against those sorts of things.
Ko’u:
How will you involve yourself in the immigrant communities and policy development to ensure that their voices are heard when crafting state immigration-related laws?
Rep. Chung:
We have a lot of really wonderful advocacy groups in Illinois, and they're have been out in force, especially with what's happening federally. Especially back in veto session in October, we heard from a lot of immigrant rights and immigrant advocacy groups. ICER is one of them that I know of, like the Immigration Project. There's another one called Access to Justice. All these groups. There are countless more. I can't even begin to start naming them all. They have a lot of folks that are advocating for, the best policies surrounding what we can do to protect immigrant rights. In Illinois, we did pass a bill. We passed a bill back in October. That was in response to what we had seen happening in the Chicagoland area surrounding ICE earlier in October and September. What we're trying to do is to protect people from sensitive places. If they're in a hospital, ICE cannot go in to arrest anybody for possibly being undocumented. It'd be hospitals, daycare, courthouses, public universities. We already passed a law protecting K-12 schools. These are all the things we're trying to do in Illinois to really make it heard that we value immigrants here and their contributions to our communities.
Ko’u:
Did you also mean college campuses, including community colleges?
Rep. Chung:
Yes, what we're doing is protecting public colleges and universities. The bill was signed in November by the governor. We passed it in October. It's still pretty new, but that is what we're aiming to do.
Ko’u:
I'm very happy to hear that, especially because I work with the International Students Organization here, not many of them in the office actually know about this.
Alivia:
What is a sanctuary city? Can you explain what this means to those who are unfamiliar with the term?
Rep. Chung:
My understanding for a sanctuary city is a city where, like the city of Chicago, they have protections surrounding immigrant communities and immigrant people, undocumented folks, to make sure that local law enforcement will not be cooperating with federal agents, immigration, border patrol, those folks, to really make sure they're making concerted, intentional effort to protect our immigrant communities. Also, there's another level of that, which is a welcoming city. I'm not totally sure what the difference is between those, but I know in Normal they passed the welcoming city ordinance. At the same time, the Illinois Trust Act is trying to help cover that statewide.
Ko’u:
That sounds very important, especially in this day and age. Do you support state-level protections for sanctuary cities or the policies that are limiting local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement? And could you maybe explain your position on this?
Rep. Chung:
Yes, as we've done in Bloomington, we want to make sure that immigrant communities, undocumented people also feel safe in their community, that they feel like, if they are a victim of a crime, they don't feel like if they report that crime, that they could also be turned in, and could be deported or whatever. So those sorts of things, to make sure that communities, cities are wanting to protect their immigrant population. Also to make sure that they, show their value, right? That we value immigrants here. I think that that's an important stance for a lot of cities to make. It's just a step that we can take to make sure that we're welcoming people, leading with kindness. That's how I see it. I know how difficult it is for a lot of folks who are immigrants. They're coming to a new country. They might not know the language. They might not know customs. It's all those things where people feel foreign, to use a term, or to be isolated. Any steps that cities can take for that, can really help.
Ko’u:
Many people today don't really understand how scary it is to move to a new country, especially when they're worried about their family, their children, their pets, even, especially their dogs, because I love my dog. I know that she would be my number one priority. I know that for people with young children who also are learning a new culture and a new language, this is a hot issue for them as well.
Alivia:
What do you wish more people understood about immigration and its impact on Illinois?
Rep. Chung:
I want people to know that immigrants make up our communities. You might maybe not see it, outwardly, but immigrants do really make up all our communities throughout the state. They're hardworking people. All they want is a better life to provide for their families, to contribute to society and their communities. Where the federal government is saying, we're trying to go after the bad people. As we've seen in a lot of these stories and in the immigration enforcement that's been happening throughout the country, that's not the case. They are going around profiling people, talking to people saying that you look... where you are from? You look and you speak with an accent. It's things like that. That is breeding a lot of hate and mistrust. I been unfortunate to see. There's a video I saw the other day of a young boy. He's Asian American. It looks like he was born here and he was at a soccer tournament, and he was bullied by another teammate or somebody on another team. He was saying that you're going to be deported, you're going to be sent back to where you came from. This 12-year-old child, it just breaks my heart. Because that bully, he's seeing that from what's happening right now at the federal level. You're seeing people being dragged out of their cars, and you're seeing all this rhetoric that's going around. Children are hearing that, and children are parroting that, and that's, that's heartbreaking to see. That's the ripple effect that's affecting so many people. So yes, it's unfortunate to see. I wish that people would be more compassionate.
Ko’u:
Cded more than ever. I also have some stories like that. I saw this little boy, he wrote a letter to his best friend. He was like 8 years old. Everything was misspelled. His handwriting was not the best, but he said, "You're my best friend. Please don't forget me if I'm taken." These little kids are dealing with real life problems, adult problems, adult fears. I can't imagine what it’s like for 6- or 8-year-olds knowing you could be taken.
Rep. Chung:
Yeah, and that trauma is probably going to be attached to them for some time.
Ko’u:
Exactly. Are you concerned with how ICE is conducting its operations?
Rep. Chung:
I am very concerned, deeply troubled by what's happening. You see people who are trying to live their lives and they're being profiled right now. You also see a lot of people who are being caught in this crossfire. Renee Good up in Minnesota, she was just there trying to get out of the way and she lost her life. Then, the story of a family in Minnesota who's trying to get home from a basketball game and their car was hit by a flash bang canister. Those sorts of things their not just going after what they're terming, illegal immigrants. There's a real-life consequence to communities everywhere right now. It's been troubling to see. I don't know what the answer is. People have been going out and trying to protest and stop ICE from conducting what they're doing. You hear people saying, you should let them do what they're doing. But, when we're here to protect, when people want to deeply and fervently protect people in their communities, people are coming out. What we've been saying is to make sure that you're documenting what is happening, try to be as safe as possible. We have seen, especially in Chicago and Minneapolis, communities standing up, a lot of people don't want to stand by while they watch this happening.
Ko’u:
Thank you, Representative Chung. Especially for the next generation like Alivia, who is looking up to being a lawmaker or a lobbyist one day.
Alivia:
Yes, thank you for your time. Very informative and inspiring, I'm glad you could be here today.
Rep. Chung:
Thank you very much for having me.
Ko’u:
That's today's episode of Community Voices. Thank you for listening.
