Taking organizers of the event completely by surprise, more than 10,000 applicants showed up to apply for temporary protected immigration status:
Thousands of people showed up to Navy Pier, carrying school transcripts, plane tickets and other proof of their time in the United States as they sought temporary protected status under an Obama administration program geared toward students and young adults in the country illegally.
The crowd of mostly teenagers and young adults packed into the Navy Pier grand ballroom, where volunteer attorneys waited to help people apply, and spilled down Illinois Avenue and onto a Lake Shore Drive bike path for several blocks, approaching Millennium Park.
By mid-morning, the crowded was estimated at 11,000 people.
They had expected 1,500 people; nearly ten times that number showed up.
Leaving questions about the legality of the president’s decision to implement something approximating the DREAM Act by executive order, the wisdom of doing it, or the prudence of these young people in surrendering information that they have no assurance won’t be used against them in future deportation proceedings, what does this say about the number of individuals to whom the law might apply?
I’d be curious how many are originally from Mexico, versus Russia or Poland or Vietnam, etc . . .
Chicago is a “sanctuary city”, though. It may just have had an unusually large number of young adult illegal immigrants.
I’m not sure it says anything about the number of people this applies to. It DOES imply that those who want this Golden Ticket want it badly and are willing to show up like this was the opening of The Avengers II.