West Chicago Elementary School Teacher Placed on Administrative Leave for Facebook Post in Support of ICE Operations

A teacher at West Chicago’s Gary Elementary School has been placed on administrative leave for a social media post that expressed support for Immigration and Customs Enforcement efforts in the city.The teacher, who has not been publicly named, wrote on his personal Facebook page, “GO ICE.” The comment sparked an uproar in the West Chicago community, which is largely Hispanic and where ICE has focused a significant amount of its attention in recent weeks.A petition was launched on Change.org that said the “casual way in which he publicly promoted the actions of ICE in our area is inappropriate and unsuitable for an educator.” The petition urged parents to keep their children home from school on January 26 to pressure the district to fire the teacher. According to a local TV station, WLS, reported that “many” parents kept their children home on Monday. The outrage over the post comes as the Trump administration is facing harsh criticism over its immigration crackdown and two separate fatal shootings of American citizens by immigration officials. During a Monday morning meeting of the West Chicago City Council, activists and parents expressed frustration that the district had not fired the teacher.West Chicago’s mayor, Daniel Bovey, expressed sympathy with the concerned residents during the meeting. According to WLS, Mr. Bovey said, “We have kids in our school districts — in this school specifically — who have lost a mom or dad or family member within the last three months. They’re going home wondering if they will ever see mom or dad again.”Mr. Bovey said he encouraged the demonstrators to attend the council meeting.An Illinois state senator, Karina Villa, said during the meeting, “You have many students across District 33 who did not go to school today because of fear incited by a teacher.”Some attendees acknowledged the teacher’s First Amendment rights. A grandparent identified as Elizabeth Albert said, “Everyone has the right to say what’s on their minds, but there’s also consequences to that.”The demonstrators indicated on Monday that they plan on attending the next school board meeting, scheduled for early February, to demand that the district fire the teacher.In a statement on Monday, the superintendent, Kristina Davis, said that the school district “learned of concerns regarding a disruptive social media comment made by a District employee on his personal account.”“The teacher initially submitted his resignation. Later that day, he withdrew his resignation before the Board had an opportunity to take action,” Ms. Davis said. “Following a meeting with District administration today, the employee involved has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation and will not be permitted on any District property while on leave.”She acknowledged that the “situation” created “concerns and caused disruption for students, families, and staff,” but sought to reassure the community that West Chicago’s schools are “safe places.”Some social media users suggested that the teacher should be fired for the post. However, a professor at George Washington University Law School, Jonathan Turley, suggested on X that the decision to place the teacher on administrative leave is hypocritical. “Some of us in the free speech community have been writing about the hypocrisy of many in the media and academia suddenly championing free speech values after years of silence (or support) over censorship of conservatives, libertarians, and contrarians. This is a good example,” Mr. Turley said. The decision to suspend the West Chicago teacher comes as many educators faced scrutiny over posts they made on their personal social media accounts about the killing of Charlie Kirk last year. There have been dozens of lawsuits challenging the terminations, arguing they violated the plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights. In several cases, the school or university reinstated the teacher as a result of a settlement or a court order, or an attempt to avoid litigation altogether.

West Chicago Elementary School Teacher Placed on Administrative Leave for Facebook Post in Support of ICE Operations

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