{"id":33811,"date":"2025-12-14T09:10:30","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T15:10:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/2025\/12\/14\/meet-the-teens-raising-money-to-help-classmates-with-parents-in-immigration-detention\/"},"modified":"2025-12-14T09:10:31","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T15:10:31","slug":"meet-the-teens-raising-money-to-help-classmates-with-parents-in-immigration-detention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/2025\/12\/14\/meet-the-teens-raising-money-to-help-classmates-with-parents-in-immigration-detention\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the teens raising money to help classmates with parents in immigration detention"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction to the DREAM Team<\/h2>\n

As a few hundred people gathered in a Chicago park last month for a rally against aggressive and rampant immigration enforcement, a group of teenagers were busy selling maroon tote bags and hoodies emblazoned with \u201cI support undocumented students.\u201d The teens attend Solorio High School and are a part of a club called the DREAM Team, which has sold the hoodie for almost a decade. Typically, the proceeds go toward college scholarships for classmates who are shut out of federal financial aid because they lack legal status in the U.S.<\/p>\n

The New Meaning of the Fundraising Efforts<\/h2>\n

But in the face of federal agents teargassing residents and detaining everyday workers, the statement of support has taken on a new defiant meaning. At the same time, members of the club are grappling with the harsh reality that some of their classmates\u2019 families have been torn apart. Now the club is using their funds to help Solorio students with parents who\u2019ve been detained or deported pay rent and other expenses. So far, they\u2019ve raised more than $6,000. Eight students are in that situation, though not all of them need financial help, and some money is being saved in case more families need it as the school year goes on.<\/p>\n

Solorio is in a Southwest Side neighborhood of bungalows not far from Midway Airport. Virtually all the students in the school are Latino, and more than a third are English language learners. Richard, a senior at Solorio and the co-president of the club, said the election of President Donald Trump prompted the club to shift its focus. \u201cWhen Trump got elected, our priority shifted to actually helping our community and protecting our community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Personal Stories and Struggles<\/h2>\n

The need is not just outside the group, it is within it. At the recent rally, DREAM Team member Lesli Valladares climbed on a makeshift stage. At an organizer\u2019s direction, she held the portable mic close to her mouth so her thin voice would be heard above the crowd. The slight 17-year-old pulled at the sleeve of her oversized baby blue sweatshirt as she explained that her dad was selling his tamales, like he did every day, when he was taken into custody by federal immigration agents.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The Role of DREAM Teams<\/h3>\n

High schools and colleges across the country have had clubs or programs that specifically support immigrant students without legal status for more than a decade. They take their name from the DREAM Act, which would have given temporary protection from deportation to young adults who came to the U.S. as children. Congress never approved the DREAM Act, but President Barack Obama signed an executive order that offered similar protections.<\/p>\n

Supporting Students<\/h3>\n

These clubs have been instrumental for students who might feel embarrassed or scared because of their immigration status. They send the message they are not alone. Every spring, for example, the Solorio DREAM Team puts on a \u201ccoming out of the shadows\u201d event as part of a school assembly. Students who lack legal status give an \u201cundocumented, unafraid,\u201d speech, while those from mixed-status families talk about what the experience has meant for them.<\/p>\n

<img class="Image" alt=’A poster with a blue butterfly reads "Solorio DREAM Team, fear only limits your dreams."’ srcset="https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/b3f887e\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/4320×2880+0+0\/resize\/840×560!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F96%2Fe2%2Fac485db949748ffe916c8db9b902%2Fdreamteam-113025-024.jpg<\/a> 1x,https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/3a57453\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/4320×2880+0+0\/resize\/1680×1120!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F96%2Fe2%2Fac485db949748ffe916c8db9b902%2Fdreamteam-113025-024.jpg<\/a> 2x" width="840" height="560" src="https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/b3f887e\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/4320×2880+0+0\/resize\/840×560!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F96%2Fe2%2Fac485db949748ffe916c8db9b902%2F<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introduction to the DREAM Team As a few hundred people gathered in a Chicago park last month for a rally against aggressive and rampant immigration enforcement, a group of teenagers were busy selling maroon tote bags and hoodies emblazoned with \u201cI support undocumented students.\u201d The teens attend Solorio High School and are a part of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-33811","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/41395cf\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/4320x2466+0+96\/resize\/1461x834!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fdb%2Ff1%2Fe35af18a4dea82409f0bd4b498e5%2Fdreamteam-113025-009.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33811"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33811"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33814,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33811\/revisions\/33814"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}