At the end of January, we told you about a Chicago teacher who was facing termination for posting "Go ICE" on social media. The Left, who just spent a week telling us about the importance of Don Lemon's First Amendment rights, suddenly decided those rights don't matter if someone's words make the community "feel unsafe."
Now that teacher, James Heidorn, has resigned, and he's calling it "devastating."
FIRST ON FOX: A Chicago-area teacher who says he was forced to resign after posting “Go ICE” on Facebook is now speaking out about the emotional and financial hardship he says the controversy has caused.
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 15, 2026
"I’ve spent 14 years building my career, pouring my heart into teaching… pic.twitter.com/Z9Jzc5QhBl
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.
Not a single Democrat has come out in defense of Heidorn.
A GoFundMe has apparently been set up for him.
Woke tried to cancel but it’s backfiring!
— Awake Illinois (@Awake_IL) February 16, 2026
Be uncancellable! https://t.co/VKLBt2Col7 pic.twitter.com/rsFKOM9hHP
It has raised $61,000 so far.
Notice how school librarians are not fired. Instead, American Library Association calls them heroes in its new agitprop film “The Librarians.” https://t.co/FjW3xlQKpt
— Dan Kleinman @OccupyLibraries (@OccupyLibraries) February 15, 2026
Incredible.
The left has no problem firing us for our opinions. Free speech evidently is no defense
— ElectionMapsIF (@ElectionMapsIF) February 16, 2026
That's precedent. Fire every anti-ICE teacher in America. If someone organizes a match that takes students out of school without parental permission, charge them with kidnapping. Total war https://t.co/hawArIJzSy
Back in October, a Chicago Public School teacher mocked the assassination of Charlie Kirk. She's still employed.
Amazing how the left wastes no time firing this guy, yet a leftist teacher can celebrate Charlie Kirk’s murder and get promoted. Leftists are SICK. https://t.co/GevUx6xSci
— Anti Kommunistic (@antikommunistic) February 15, 2026
It's (D)ifferent when they do it.
In Wisconsin, hundreds of educators were investigated for sexual misconduct by the state's Department of Public Instruction (DPI). They got to keep their licenses and find new jobs, while the DPI hid this information from the public.