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Year: 2026

Chicago-area teacher breaks silence after losing job over 2-word Facebook post supporting ICE: ‘Devastating’

Chicago-area teacher breaks silence after losing job over 2-word Facebook post supporting ICE: ‘Devastating’

FIRST ON FOX: A Chicago area teacher who was forced to resign from his position over his Facebook post saying “Go ICE” is speaking out about the emotional and financial toll he has suffered as a result. “This process has been professionally and personally devastating and surreal,” former West Chicago teacher James Heidorn told Fox News Digital in his first public comments about the situation.  “I’ve spent 14 years building my career, pouring my heart into teaching kids, building relationships and being a positive role model. To see it all upended over two simple words, ‘Go ICE,’ where I expressed my personal support for law enforcement felt like a severe blow to my career.” In late January, Fox News Digital first reported that the longtime teacher at Gary Elementary School in a heavily Hispanic district was placed on leave after local activists in the community began sharing his Facebook post that said “GO ICE” in response to a news story about a local police department saying they would cooperate with ICE.  GOT A SCOOP ON CAMPUS? SEND US A TIP HERE On Thursday, Jan. 22, Heidorn was first notified by school officials that they had seen the growing social media chatter about his post. He briefly quit after meeting with HR staff before rescinding his resignation the same day. Heidorn was set to return to school to teach on Monday while the school investigated. Around the same time, Illinois Democratic state Sen. Karina Villa, who was captured on video in September chasing down ICE agents in the street, publicly expressed outrage over the post and said she stands in “unwavering solidarity” with families upset about the “disturbing comments reportedly made by an educator.” On that Saturday, before an investigation had been concluded, West Chicago Mayor Daniel Bovey took to Facebook and posted a video explaining why Heidorn’s comments were “hurtful” and “offensive” to many in the community. “The issue is we have trusted adults who are the ones that care for those kids when they can’t be with their mom and their dad,” Bovey said. “So to have someone cavalierly rooting on — as if it’s a football game or something, yeah go — events which have traumatized these children… that is the issue.” Over the weekend, parents online were encouraging each other to keep their students home from school as a form of protest, and many in the community began criticizing Heidorn.  The city of West Chicago held a “listening session” on Jan. 26 at the request of Bovey, that included a Spanish translator, where a variety of parents and locals expressed concerns about the post, including a woman who said “kids do not feel safe” as a result of the post and another woman who said the post was “cruel.” “This started with a two-word comment on my personal Facebook page supporting law enforcement—nothing more,” Heidorn said. “It wasn’t directed at any student, family or school community. Second, I was placed on leave and faced intense pressure before any full investigation or fair process could play out, with this it led to my resignation.”  “Third, I lost my career, my income and the chance to close out my time with my students properly—no farewell, no goodbyes.” Ultimately, Heidorn resigned a second time rather than be terminated after a hearing with school officials. In a statement to Fox News Digital at the time that Heidorn was on leave in January, a West Chicago Elementary School District 33 spokesperson referred to the social media post as “disruptive” and said, “We understand that this situation has raised concerns and caused disruption for students, families and staff.” Teachers all across the United States have taken to the streets in recent weeks, causing disruptions in favor of far-left causes, including in Chicago, where teachers stormed a local Target and harassed employees, to protest President Donald Trump’s immigration policies without facing pushback or repercussions from local school districts.  TOP TEACHERS UNION UNDER FIRE AS LAWMAKERS PUSH TO STRIP UNION OF UNIQUE FEDERAL CHARTER: ‘LOST THEIR WAY’ “Most importantly, this is bigger than me: it’s about whether personal opinions expressed outside of work can cost someone their livelihood without due process,” Heidorn said. “I hope to see free speech matters, even when it’s unpopular.” “It does feel like a double standard—due to my viewpoint being different from others within the community that I taught in. I feel that we should all be able to coexist with our personal political viewpoints. Fairness should apply equally, regardless of those viewpoints. If personal political speech is grounds for punishment, it should be consistent—not selective based on what side you’re on. I believe in free speech for all, and that’s what I hope comes out of all this.” Heidorn has received some support from the local community, including a GoFundMe page calling him a “beloved physical education teacher” who “showed up every day for his students.” “Emotionally, it’s been a roller coaster that has me feeling a great deal of shock, loss and deep sadness over losing daily contact with my students,” Heidorn said. “Feelings of anger and frustration at how quickly things escalated without real dialogue, and grief for not getting to say a proper goodbye to the kids I cared so much for. I’ve had sleepless nights, but I’m trying to stay focused on my family and the support I’ve received from people who know the real me.” Heidorn, who also lost his employment working as a soccer coach at a nearby private school, told Fox News Digital that one of the most difficult aspects of being forced from his job was losing the relationships he built with his students of all backgrounds over his long career.  Asked what he would tell his students if given the opportunity to address the situation with them directly, Heidorn said the online outrage “isn’t the full story” and is “just noise from people who don’t know me.” “To my students: I want you to know that I care about you deeply and

Dem governor in deep-red state calls for ICE pullout, triggering clash over enforcement authority

Dem governor in deep-red state calls for ICE pullout, triggering clash over enforcement authority

EXCLUSIVE: Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman fired back at Gov. Andy Beshear’s comments on “The View” about pulling ICE out of “every city,” setting up what could become a high-stakes intergovernmental battle over cooperation with federal immigration authorities. “Every ICE agent should be withdrawn from every city and every community that they’re in. This organization has to be reformed from the top-down. Secretary Noem needs to be fired, and every agent needs to retrained,” Beshear told the ABC talk show, before adding the “body-count of American citizens” should lead to a “pause [to] pull everybody back.” Coleman, who spoke to Fox News Digital from the sheriff’s office in Daviess County — home of NASCAR legend Darrell Waltrip and one of several Kentucky jurisdictions that work with ICE — said his take is “not a political one” and that ICE also has the backing of those lawmen he was meeting with after the interview. “My view as the chief law enforcement officer of this commonwealth, someone that’s carried a badge and a gun, someone that has been a federal prosecutor, [is] that statement that the governor made was absurd,” Coleman said. TOM HOMAN VOWS TO WORK AROUND NEW DEM VA GOV SPANBERGER’S EXECUTIVE ORDER ENDING ICE COOPERATION Coleman said the dispute centers on Beshear’s “commentary” versus the reality of which agencies he controls. The Kentucky State Police fall under Beshear’s authority, but they currently work with ICE. Meanwhile, Coleman’s office works with the state’s 120 county sheriffs’ offices, many of which cooperate with the Department of Homeland Security. “I don’t want to set up a straw-dog argument because the reality is the collaboration is never going to stop here because those of us who have taken an oath to protect families are going to work with our federal partners,” he said, pointing to recent successes across the Tug Fork River where such collaboration led to the arrests of 650 illegal immigrants in West Virginia. FROM OBAMA AWARD TO MINNESOTA OP: WHY TRUMP TAPPED TOM HOMAN FOR ON-THE-GROUND CRACKDOWN As for the legal ramifications of a potential clash between a DHS-aligned attorney general and a governor with opposing objectives, one legal expert said the situation presents an interesting case. Former Florida federal prosecutor Zack Smith said that while every state’s attorney generalship is slightly different, a governor is an elected constitutional officer, just as sheriffs are, and that neither can tell the other what to do “in most instances.” “The attorney general can issue opinions of law. He can issue certain advisory opinions about what state law means or requires. But there are very few instances, in Florida at least, where the attorney general can compel another constitutional officer, like sheriffs, to comply with state law.” “Now, if they violate state law or something like that, obviously, he could then prosecute them, but there’s really not a lot he could do as a practical matter,” he said, adding that Beshear is likely relying on his gubernatorial “bully pulpit” to effect change. “There are probably limits to what he can do — and keep in mind the 287(g) agreements” in the counties. “I think this from a practical and policy perspective, this is a very foolish and very dangerous statement by the governor of Kentucky,” he said, pointing to Minnesota chaos bred from similar opposition to ICE operations. PHILADELPHIA’S THREAT TO PROSECUTE ICE COULD TRIGGER LANDMARK COURT FIGHT OVER AUTHORITY, EXPERTS WARN Beshear’s office did not respond to a request for comment. Both Beshear and Coleman have served as attorney general — something the governor mentioned on “The View” — but Coleman said Beshear should therefore know that cooperation with federal authorities is preferable to going on offense. “I’d like to, on one hand, be respectful of my predecessor… [but] anyone who’s spent time in law enforcement… knows that we are more effective at protecting people,” he said, noting that the county he was sitting in has ICE to thank for removing a violent child-sex predator from the streets and that local Owensboro authorities cooperated with a DHS operation to arrest an illegal immigrant who had been financially extorting seniors. TRUMP DHS HAMMERS DEM GOVERNOR’S PORTAL TO TRACK ICE AGENTS: ‘ENCOURAGES VIOLENCE’ In neighboring Virginia, officials are moving to follow Beshear’s advice by ending state-federal cooperation forged under former Gov. Glenn Youngkin and advancing bills to restrict DHS collaboration. When asked, Coleman said he does not see Frankfort following Richmond’s lead anytime soon and lamented the loss of several cooperative colleagues in Virginia. “Fortunately, I don’t have to face that hypothetical here in this Commonwealth, but in our Mother Commonwealth (Virginia), it’s been very concerning. We [also] hated to lose a phenomenal colleague in Jason Miyares,” he added. DHS also pushed back on Beshear’s position. Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said federal law enforcement “will continue arresting criminal illegal aliens across the state of Kentucky while sanctuary politicians like Governor Beshear continue to demonize our law enforcement and side with criminal illegal aliens over American citizens.” “We need state and local law enforcement engagement and information so we don’t have to have such a presence on the streets,” she said. She listed several recent arrests in Kentucky, including Roman Sanchez, described as a criminal illegal immigrant convicted of homicide, willful killing of a family member with a gun, larceny, robbery, receiving stolen property and armed street robbery, as well as several individuals convicted of rape.

Hillary Clinton says migration ‘went too far’ and ‘needs to be fixed in a humane way’

Hillary Clinton says migration ‘went too far’ and ‘needs to be fixed in a humane way’

While in Germany for the Munich Security Conference, Hillary Clinton participated in a panel titled, “The West-West Divide: What Remains of Common Values.” During the panel, Clinton appeared to take a stronger approach to her previous stance on border security. ICE RAMPS UP DEPORTATION PUSH BY BOOSTING CAPACITY TO 92,600 BEDS WITH $38.3B EXPANSION “There is a legitimate reason to have a debate about things like migration,” Clinton said. “It went too far, it’s been disruptive and destabilizing, and it needs to be fixed in a humane way with secure borders that don’t torture and kill people and how we’re going to have a strong family structure because it is at the base of civilization,” she added. Clinton acknowledged that there are places where a physical barrier is appropriate but opposed large-scale expansion of a border wall during her 2016 presidential campaign. NEW DEM PROPOSAL WOULD RESTRICT ICE’S KEY TOOL TO DETAIN CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIENS At the time, she supported then President Barack Obama’s executive actions that deferred immigration enforcement against millions of children and parents in the country illegally and wanted to end the practice of family detention. Clinton also planned on continuing Obama’s policy of deporting violent criminals, but wanted to scale back immigration raids, which she said at the time produced “unnecessary fear and disruption in communities,” Fox News Digital previously reported. In 2018, Clinton called out the Trump administration for its deportation policies. CONGRESS UNVEILS $1.2T SPENDING BILL AS PROGRESSIVE REVOLT BREWS OVER ICE FUNDING “It is now the official policy of the US government — a nation of immigrants — to separate children from their families. That is an absolute disgrace. #FamiliesBelongTogether,” she wrote on X. At the Newmark Civic Life Series in Manhattan last year, Clinton argued that immigrants, whether legal or illegal, have made the American economy exceptional by adding to the workforce. “One of the reasons why our economy did so much better than comparable advanced economies across the world is because we actually had a replenishment, because we had a lot of immigrants, legally and undocumented, who had a, you know, larger than normal — by American standards — families,” she said.

Rubio meets with Zelenskyy ahead of crucial Geneva talks, says Trump wants solution that ‘ends bloodshed’

Rubio meets with Zelenskyy ahead of crucial Geneva talks, says Trump wants solution that ‘ends bloodshed’

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Saturday at the Munich Security Conference, saying that President Donald Trump “wants a solution that ends the bloodshed once and for all.” “Met with Ukrainian President @ZelenskyyUa on Ukraine’s security and deepening defense and economic partnerships,” Rubio wrote in an X post in which he shared a photo of him shaking hands with the Ukrainian leader. “President Trump wants a solution that ends the bloodshed once and for all.” Earlier Saturday, Zelenskyy revealed he had spoken with Rubio and Trump envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner ahead of talks in Geneva, which he said his government expected to be “truly productive.” “I had a conversation with envoys of President Trump @stevewitkoff and @JaredKushner, ahead of the trilateral meetings in Geneva,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. “We count on the meetings being truly productive.” US OFFICIALS TOUT PROGRESS IN TALKS TO REACH ‘LASTING AND DURABLE PEACE’ BETWEEN UKRAINE, RUSSIA Zelenskyy said they also discussed “some developments following the meetings in Abu Dhabi, which were held at the end of last month and the beginning of this month. “Not everything can be shared over the phone, and our negotiating team will present Ukraine’s position next week,” the Ukrainian president added. After the Abu Dhabi talks, Zelenskyy told reporters the U.S. had set a June deadline for Moscow and Kyiv to strike a peace agreement. “The Americans are proposing the parties end the war by the beginning of this summer and will probably put pressure on the parties precisely according to this schedule,” Zelenskyy said at the time, according to The Associated Press. Zelenskyy added at the time that if the June deadline is not met, the Trump administration would likely put pressure on Moscow and Kyiv to meet. On Saturday, he also thanked the U.S. for its “constructive approach” to ending the war. “We greatly appreciate that America consistently maintains a constructive approach and is ready to assist in protecting lives,” Zelenskyy wrote. “I thank President Trump, his team, and the people of the United States for their support.” Rubio on Saturday also said he had discussed peace between Ukraine and Russia at the Munich Security Conference with his G7 counterparts.  “Met with my @G7 counterparts in Munich to advance @POTUS’s vision of pursuing peace through strength,” Rubio wrote. “We discussed ongoing efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war, promote stability in Venezuela, and address global threats to achieve international peace and prosperity.” The talks between the U.S., Russia and Ukraine are expected to start Tuesday in Geneva.

Fetterman slams Democrats’ ‘Jim Crow 2.0’ voter ID rhetoric as party unity fractures

Fetterman slams Democrats’ ‘Jim Crow 2.0’ voter ID rhetoric as party unity fractures

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., is continuing his streak of breaking with his party — this time on voter ID legislation gaining momentum in the Senate. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats have near-unanimously rejected the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, election integrity legislation that made its way through the House earlier this week. Schumer has dubbed the legislation “Jim Crow 2.0,” arguing it would suppress voters rather than encourage more secure elections. COLLINS BOOSTS REPUBLICAN VOTER ID EFFORT, BUT WON’T SCRAP FILIBUSTER But Fetterman, who has repeatedly rejected his party’s messaging and positions, pushed back on Schumer’s framing of the bill. “I would never refer to the SAVE Act as like Jim Crow 2.0 or some kind of mass conspiracy,” Fetterman told Fox News’ Kayleigh McEnany on “Saturday in America.” “But that’s part of the debate that we were having here in the Senate right now,” he continued. “And I don’t call people names or imply that it’s something gross about the terrible history of Jim Crow.” The bill would require voters to present photo identification before casting ballots, require proof of citizenship in person when registering to vote and mandate states remove non-citizens from voter rolls. MURKOWSKI BREAKS WITH GOP ON VOTER ID, SAYS PUSH ‘IS NOT HOW WE BUILD TRUST’ Momentum is building among Republicans. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, became the 50th member of the conference to back the legislation. But Senate Democrats have all but guaranteed its demise in the upper chamber, via the filibuster. Fetterman would not say whether he supports the bill outright. However, he noted that “84% of Americans have no problem with presenting IDs to vote.” “So it’s not like a radical idea,” Fetterman said. “It’s not something — and there already are many states that show basic IDs. So that’s where we are in the Senate.” HARDLINE CONSERVATIVES DOUBLE DOWN TO SAVE THE SAVE ACT Even if Fetterman were to support the bill on the floor, it is unlikely to pass without more significant procedural changes. There are currently not enough votes to overcome the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold. Fetterman is also not keen on eliminating the filibuster — a position shared by most Senate Republicans. He noted that Senate Democrats once favored scrapping the filibuster but now want to preserve it while in the minority in a Republican-controlled government. “I campaigned on it, too,” Fetterman said. “I mean we were very wrong about that to nuke the filibuster. And we should really humble ourselves and remind people that we wanted to eliminate it — and now we love it.”