President Barack Obama was the target of sharp criticism last week from an unlikely place: his hometown’s City Council, where all members save one are fellow Democrats.
At Wednesday’s Council meeting, Alderman Daniel Solis (25th Ward) stood up and bitterly noted that the president had not delivered on his campaign promise to try to change federal immigration laws. Mr. Solis said the president had promised to deal with the issue within his first 90 days in the White House.
“It has been 14 months,” Mr. Solis said. “It’s a national disgrace.”
Alderman Roberto Maldonado, right, of the 26th Ward added, “We still are begging the administration and President Barack Obama to do the right thing.”
The comments came in the Council’s debate of a resolution in support of a March 21 march for immigration reform in Washington.
Never hesitant to address issues beyond their purview, aldermen voted 43 to 0 in favor of the resolution, which calls for a halt to deportations and immigration raids.
Alderman Daniel Solis & Roberto Maldonado of the 25th & 26th Ward are totally CLUELESS (as the rest of them) about the fact this city, county & country are BROKE. Perhaps they should focus on the problems we face in Chicago. You could start with the gangs and corruption. It’s about time we ALL help change federal immigration laws and CLOSE the borders. We can no longer afford to take in all the unskilled people who want to come in and take advantage of the public welfare. BOTH of these aldermen are part of the problem. I can’t afford to keep paying for all your wild ideas.. Lord knows you people are OVERPAID as it is for what little work you do for the people. FOCUS on the problems we the tax payers face…
I would like to comment on Ferris’s statement above. While your comments are certainly valid and warranted I would ask that you not place all peoples who are here illegally in the unskilled and a burden to our society category. Our city as well as many across this great country of ours has several thousand young people who were brought here illegally by their parents. One individual who I have known since he was in the seventh grade and is now college age came here with his mother when he was three from Mexico. It wasn’t until his freshmen year of high school that he learned he was here illegally. He graduated from one of the top schools in the state and he scored a 35 on his ACT. Currently he is taking a class here and a class there at one of our city colleges, but really should be at a four year school, but can’t receive federal student loans for obvious reasons. He is excellent in math, which by the way is a skill that our country desperately needs. He is in limbo along with many other young people like him, who in many respects do not have a country to call home. While they know about their heritage and are often proud of it, they are in many respects more American because that is what they have known from a very young age. I agree there are many people here in the states that have been a drain on our country financially, but I would bet that there are just as many or more if given a chance at citizenship would be a huge asset to our country. If you are of European heritage like me you have probably often heard of the trials and tribulations of our decedents when they first came to the states themselves. Our decedents came to give the next generation a better life. That is what America is all about. My point is that the situation is much more complicated then I think you would suggest and there needs to be legislation that is flexible enough to address these complications. Our tax dollars have already invested in young people like the one I have spoken about above and have given them an excellent education. We ought to reap those benefits as a society rather then throw them away. For those people who are here illegally, who choose not to work hard or at all and who engage in activity that does not benefit the community they live in or this country as a whole, they should be deported, not people who can be an asset to our country.