Boston Journalist Shares His Coverage of Immigration With Wright's Students

Fears about the presence of ICE are heightened as the Trump administration has ramped up enforcement of immigration law by sending ICE agents and National Guard Troops to Chicago. 

In the midst of protests across the city to the canceling of the law enforcement career fair at Wright College after concern over the presence of Border Patrol, Campus Compact hosted a Pulitzer Center sponsored event on Oct. 9 where award-winning Boston journalist Simon Rios came to Wright College to speak about his work covering immigration. Rios covers immigration stories for WBUR, Boston’s NPR news station. 

“Understanding the people we’re talking about beyond just the big headlines is a core part of the conversation,” said Rios. 

“Everything that I’ve been doing as an immigration reporter in Boston is playing out in different parts of the country so it seemed like a great opportunity to come to Chicago, which is going through a lot of the same stuff.” Rios said.

Gabe Estil, the associate dean of instruction who along with Newman Civic Fellow Jansa Hulett helped plan the event,  said that doing the event for Hispanic Heritage Month was perfect timing.  “With Simon’s reporting on immigration I think it dovetailed nicely,” Estil said. 

Rios shared the importance of journalistic coverage of immigration issues.

“A lot of people don’t like the fact that we tell stories of immigrants because for whatever reason they don’t want the attention there, they tend to look at the costs of immigration, the burden of immigration, and by telling stories and seeing the human face I think for listeners, for people who get those stories, it makes them sympathetic to people.”

 Campus Compact also plans to host a deliberative dialogue on immigration on Nov. 6 where all are invited to attend.

Simon Rios speaks at the Oct. 9 game. Photo Credit: Kyle Chmielowski