\u201cWe weren\u2019t as afraid until right now that we started seeing more ICE sightings, and especially since Silverio died,\u201d Karla says. \u201cThat was very much like, \u2018Oh my God, this is, like, where I live [around].\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n
Karla, who was born in the United States, grew up with her brother knowing that if anything ever happened to their parents, she had to call her aunt and godmother. Still, it took her years to fully understand her parents could be deported.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Karla tries to stay strong for her parents as the deportation campaign escalates in the Chicago area. But \u201cit\u2019s scary,\u201d she says. \u201cI don\u2019t want to live a life, obviously, without my parents.\u201d<\/p>\n Putting on a \u2018strong face\u2019<\/p>\n Back home in the Franklin Park area, Karla is juggling multiple jobs and trying to pay off student loans from college. She works overnight in a lab and during the day at a gym. She jokes that her parents are like her roommates who share family meals. Often weaving in typical Gen Z lingo, Karla enjoys being able to sit down with her parents to talk about their days.<\/p>\n But in recent weeks, their daily life has changed in small ways. Her father stopped going to a gym in a nearby suburb. Trips to restaurants with her mother to treat each other to breakfast have stopped. Even weekend trips to Dunkin\u2019 Donuts with her dad stopped.<\/p>\n The family makes a shopping list each week so Karla can grab groceries. And she tracks their locations on her phone, calling to check in if they take longer than usual to get to and from work.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like I put on a very strong face. I feel like I\u2019m a very strong person, especially with my parents, I don\u2019t want to show them that, like, it affects me \u2026 \u201d Karla says. \u201cI just need to be strong for my parents, you know. But if I do think about it, it\u2019s scary. I don\u2019t want to live a life, obviously, without my parents.\u201d<\/p>\n But she recently started sharing with a therapist her worries and the weight she carries of taking on responsibilities for them if they can\u2019t live in the same country.<\/p>\n \u201cI never really thought about these things, but they actually do really affect me,\u201d Karla says.<\/p>\n People thrive on having daily routines, but the increased threat of deportation is disrupting that in profound ways<\/a>, said Aimee Hilado, assistant professor at the University of Chicago\u2019s Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy and Practice. Social connections are also interrupted when you can\u2019t drop a child off at school or just go to the grocery store, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf people just sit in isolation and they don\u2019t realize there are folks that are fighting for this, there are folks that want to help,\u201d Hilado said \u201cFear can spiral without the right remedies and interruptions.\u201d<\/p>\n The isolation can also add fuel to issues people already struggle with, Hilado added.<\/p>\n \u201cYou just don\u2019t feel safe and secure in your situation and that\u2019s going to exacerbate adverse mental problems, especially if it\u2019s prolonged, especially if there\u2019s no counter message to it,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n Leaning in to help immigrants<\/p>\n<\/p>\n