SOLDIER FIELD — Days after he called on Chicagoans to open their homes to undocumented immigrants, Mayor Rahm Emanuel did just that.
Emanuel and his wife, Amy Rule, hosted six so-called "DREAMers" Tuesday night in defiance of President Donald Trump's views on immigration.
Emanuel made good on a promise he made Sunday, when he implored the activists protesting Trump's controversial travel ban at O'Hare Airport to open their own homes to immigrants.
The six teenagers who joined Emanuel all attend or graduated from public high schools in Chicago, he said.
"We’re letting those kids and their families know that in this time of uncertainty they’re not alone," Emanuel said. "And at this time of living on kind of pins and needles you are safe, you are secure, and you are supported in the city of Chicago."
DREAMers are young, undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children. Trump stirred controversy Friday when he issued a temporary ban on citizens of Syria and other predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Some activists are concerned Trump will overturn President Barack Obama's 2012 executive order deferring deportation decisions on young undocumented immigrants.
Emanuel drew from his own personal history when forming his opinion, calling his grandfather a "DREAMer" when he immigrated to the United States a century ago.
"I call on everybody, in one way or another, be a support for these children and their families at a time of great uncertainty based on the policies of President Trump," Emanuel said. "It’s not necessary, these are kids trying to pick which college to go to, whether to serve in the armed forces. That is exactly what we want from our children and they represent the best."
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