Waukegan School District 60 has fired an employee, who grew up in Waukegan, after her DACA status expired due to federal processing delays, with her union saying the district is deploying “hateful, divisive, and illegal tactics.”
A Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 Board of Education meeting was held on Tuesday evening.
The board voted 5-1 to terminate the employment of Guadalupe Ceja-Hernandez, 33, of Waukegan, who worked at the Lincoln Center for Educational Services as a switchboard secretary.
Community members, union representatives and supporters of Ceja-Hernandez attended and spoke out at the meeting to urge the district to halt the termination of Ceja-Hernandez.
Ceja-Hernandez is a longtime employee with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status, which is in jeopardy due to federal immigration processing delays.
“My colleague has lived in Waukegan her entire life and is a dedicated District 60 employee, serving students and families for the past six years,” Waukegan Professional Support Staff President Linda Unda said.
“She has done everything right to maintain her DACA immigration status, but now, federal processing delays are impacting her routine paperwork. Instead of standing with their employee at a particularly vulnerable time in her life, District 60 is standing on the side of a government deploying hateful, divisive, and illegal tactics on people who are simply following the law,” Unda said.
“The result in this case is my colleague losing her livelihood and our students and school community losing a dedicated employee for no good reason. Immigration backlogs shouldn’t be grounds for employment dismissal, the ramifications of which could follow her the rest of her life,” Unda said.
Ceja-Hernandez has lived in Waukegan since she was three months old.
She attended and graduated from Waukegan schools and has been employed at the district for the past six years.
She received DACA status in 2012 and her status has been routinely renewed every two years.
Ceja-Hernandez submitted her most recent DACA and DACA-based Employment Authorization Document extension applications on December 12 but federal processing delays have left her most recent renewal applications pending for longer than usual.
Her work authorization has temporarily expired due to the delays.
“This case reflects the deliberate effort by the Trump Administration to interfere with the DACA status of over a half million DACA recipients and their right to work in DACA status,” the Waukegan Professional Support Staff Council of Local 504 said.
“Instead of understanding the employee’s predicament caused by the Trump Administration’s deliberate delays in the adjudication of her timely filed extension applications, Waukegan District 60 is refusing to extend her suspension or grant her a temporary leave of absence until her applications are adjudicated. Either option would allow her to return to her employment as soon as the federal government approves her pending applications,” the union said.
Waukegan Professional Support Staff Council of Local 504 said the District 60 administration is taking advantage of the federal immigration backlog to discharge a valued employee during an “especially vulnerable period, jeopardizing her future livelihood and access to healthcare.”
Board members spoke during the meeting on Tuesday and said they had to vote “yes” to terminate her employment to comply with the law.
“It is very frustrating to have to vote yes to this. I think I can speak for many board members, we understand the plight and difficulty of the situation and our hearts are with you. I’m hopeful that it gets wrapped up pretty quickly so that it moves along, but unfortunately, I do have to vote yes,” Waukegan District 60 Board Member Christine Lensing said.
Board Member Carolina Fabian said the topic was “very near and dear to my heart” as she is the daughter of an immigrant.
“I do not want to expose our district or our families to legal, financial, and social repercussions or create new precedents that will create negative consequences,” Fabian said.