Six months after the arrest and ultimate deportation of a Waukegan resident with a Green Card by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, fear and uncertainty remain within Lake County’s immigrant community.
Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 Superintendent Theresa Plasencia took steps to ease some of that fear with a letter to families last week letting them know their children will be safe when classes start on Aug. 11.
“Recent news about immigration enforcement activities this summer has understandably created fear for some of our families,” Plascencia wrote in the letter. “We want to reiterate that our school district strives to be a safe and welcoming place for all students, regardless of immigration status.”
Waukegan Township Trustee Dulce Ortiz is the executive director of Mano a Mano Family Resource Center in Round Lake Park. The organization provides services and support to the immigrant community. She said people are unsure of their safety right now.
“There is a lot of fear,” Ortiz said. “They don’t know if ICE will show up after they drop their children off at school. People don’t want to leave their house. They’re afraid to go to the grocery store.”
Bishop Timothy J. O’Malley, the pastor of Most Blessed Trinity Parish in Waukegan, said last spring he noticed fewer people coming to church or arriving at the food pantry. Over the summer, more are coming back, in part because of social media, he said.
“People started returning in June, but they are still concerned,” O’Malley said. “People get on the phone and Facebook when they see something. People know what to do. They know when not to be in a place in public.”
District 60 officials are preparing for the start of school in Waukegan amid uncertainty over the potential impact ICE activities may have on some of the families, and are preparing to calm the situation as much as possible.
For the past two school years, Nick Alatzakis, District 60’s communications director, said the number of newcomers — foreign-born students who have arrived in the country over the last three years — appears to be declining. A year ago, it was approximately 10% of the student population.
“At this time, we do not anticipate the recent upward trend in newcomer enrollment to continue,” Alatzakis said in an email. “Informally, we’ve received reports from multiple sources indicating that newcomer registrations for the 2025-2026 school year appear to be lower than in previous years.
With families still registering children for school, Alatzakis said it is too soon to determine if the number of students will be more or fewer than last year. Those numbers “will become clear” once school is in session.
Ortiz said the fear is greatest among mixed families, where some members are legal residents and others are undocumented. Oftentimes, those situations occur when children are born in the United States and one or both of their parents are undocumented immigrants.
Since District 60 does not collect information on the immigration status of students, Plascencia said there is no record of it. Student records are also confidential and protected by law. They cannot be shared without parental consent or legal authority.
“Every student deserves to feel safe, valued and supported when they walk through our school doors,” Plascencia said in the email. “Federal immigration agents are not permitted access to students without a valid federal warrant.”
Though she is not sure if people are becoming better educated or are afraid, Ortiz said fewer individuals are coming to Mano a Manio for programs or services. She notices fewer shoppers in stores. When the needs are strongest, families take more risks.
“They’ll come to a school resource fair because of free backpacks and school supplies,” Ortiz said. “They need the financial assistance. At the Lake County Fair, there were hardly any immigrants. There are usually a lot of immigrants there.”
People can also become afraid in places that should be safe. O’Malley said he was at a parish carnival in western Lake County recently and there were trucks with the initials “I.C.E.” People were worried and concerned.
“They were engineers’ trucks,” O’Malley said, “They were there for a road project going on. Then, people relaxed.”
Some people still remember the initial ICE raid in the Chicago area on Jan. 26 when Waukegan resident Andres Marquina was arrested by ICE though he had a Green Card and had lived in the U.S. for 30 years. His daughter, Yenitza, said he was deported a few months later.
Businesses are also feeling the impact of people leaving their homes less often. A local grocery store owner, who asked his name be withheld for fear of being a victim of violence, said business is currently slower than in past summers. His suppliers are noticing the same thing.
“There are different people shopping in our stores,” he said. “We don’t know if they’re shopping for themselves or someone else. Neighbors have to show up for neighbors, and our leaders have to do what’s possible for our most vulnerable citizens.”
Though Waukegan is a sanctuary city, O’Malley said it does not get the attention of federal authorities like Chicago, Los Angeles or New York. The lack of attention helps people relax a little more.
“Waukegan seems like a safe community,” O’Malley said, “People feel safe here.”
