Rafaela Palencia, Zayda Olvera, Jocelyn Frias and Jessica Cardenas are Waukegan High School juniors and the children of immigrants.
When Palencia, Olvera, Frias and Cardenas were asked in their civics class to prepare a project on an issue important to them for the Mikva Challenge, and devise an action plan to change a government policy, immigration enforcement was a natural.
Cardenas said that for more than a year, federal immigration enforcement agents, including those from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), have been stopping people on the streets because of the color of their skin.
“We’ve seen what’s happening in our community,” she said. “We want to see a stop to unlawful arrests. We’re sending emails to stop the violent arrests of immigrants.”
Palencia, Olvera, Frias and Cardenas were among more than 325 students from three area high schools who created more than 110 projects for the annual Mikva Challenge on Friday at Waukegan High School’s Washington Campus.
Though the majority of teens were from Waukegan High School, approximately 280, there were also students from North Chicago Community High School and Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire.
Ron Ashlaw, a social studies teacher at Waukegan High and an organizer of the annual event, said students are asked to identify an issue important to them, study it, do research and develop a plan to effect change.
Ashlaw said the issue can be something local within the school, the community, the country or beyond. Besides immigration, there were projects about the environment, military veterans, food insecurity, the economy and changes within the school.
“This is not just about increasing awareness, it’s about action,” he said. “What are you going to do about it? The actual steps you’re going to take are the most important part of it. This is what (Abner) Mikva was about,” he added, referring to the former congressman and federal judge.
Since July 4 will mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, creating the United States of America, Ashlaw said he wanted the participants to consider the significance of the milestone.
Palencia tied immigration to the 250th anniversary of American independence. She said Americans rebelled for freedom. Many of the soldiers fighting in the American Revolution were immigrants themselves.
“This is the land of the free,” Palencia said. “We helped free people to make a better life for them. Freedom will make a better situation to achieve citizenship.”
Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham spent more than an hour at the Mikva Challenge touring the student projects. He said he was impressed with the students’ knowledge of local and national issues, and their desire to do something about it.
“I have faith in these young men and ladies,” Cunningham said. “They are so energized to help the city where they live. More importantly, they are providing solutions to some of these issues. They’re taking surveys and gathering information. They are our future leaders.”
A quartet of Waukegan High School juniors — Dasha Montoya, Jesel Escobar, Diana Torres and Vanessa Guzman — also chose immigration enforcement as an issue because they are hoping to curb ICE’s tactics.
“They detain people who have legal status and who are U.S. citizens because they look Hispanic,” Torres said.
“We want to talk to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and get them to change their procedures,” Guzman added.
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Before the event was over, both groups seeking a change in immigration enforcement procedures did not get to talk to anyone from DHS, but the eight high school juniors did have an opportunity to talk to their congressman, U.S. Rep. Brad Schmeider, D-Highland Park.
Schneider said attending the Mikva Challenge is one of his favorite activities every year. He enjoys talking to the young people and hearing their ideas. He is refreshed by their commitment to their community and the nation.
“I’m enthralled with everyone who takes on the Mikva Challenge,” he said. “This is a lesson in democracy. They develop an issue and come up with a solution. It’s very refreshing.”
Finding places to buy healthy food in North Chicago got the attention of North Chicago Community High School senior Kimberly Guerra and junior Quetzaly Astudiallo. Finding a solution became the Mikva Challenge project for them and several schoolmates.
Guerra said there is no grocery store in North Chicago, and a lot of people cannot travel to Waukegan or Lake Bluff to shop. Much of the food that is available for purchase, such as fast food, is less than healthy,
“It can lead to chronic illnesses, like diabetes,” Guerra said. “Some of the food has already expired,” she added, referring to items like meat being sold beyond the date marked on the package.
Astudillo said North Chicago needs a farmers’ market to enable people to buy fresh produce.
One of the people talking to Guerra, Quetzaly and the rest of their group was North Chicago Mayor Leon Rockingham Jr. He has worked over the years to bring a supermarket to his city. He was impressed with the teens’ knowledge and ideas.
“It’s not just the lack of a supermarket,” Rockingham said. “They understand the importance of eating healthy. They understand the dangers of unhealthy food and diabetes. They’ve learned to eat healthy.”
Rockingham said there is a good grocery store in North Chicago — the commissary at Naval Station Great Lakes — but it is limited to military personnel and their dependents. He has reached out to military officials to get his residents access.
“They would have to set up a separate (cash register) lane where they pay sales tax,” Rockingham said.