Lucy Baptiste/Revista sin fronterasLeaders condemned Trump and ICE’s latest escalation against immigrant communities.
After President Donald Trump and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ramped up raids nationwide, immigrant rights groups and local leaders came together Monday at Daley Plaza to denounce the federal government and offer a message: they’re not backing down.
Congressman Jesús “Chuy” Garcia, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) and other immigrant rights groups slammed Trump, calling his latest actions targeting immigrant communities “dangerous.” They also criticized Trump’s latest travel ban, new deportation quotas and efforts to roll back protections in sanctuary states like Illinois.
“This isn’t about safety,” said Garcia. “It’s about control and we’re not going anywhere.”
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In Chicago, protesters took to the streets as ICE ramped up actions across the city. Last week, ICE agents arrested workers in Pilsen and at a check-in at an ICE monitoring site in the South Loop. The move prompted outcry from elected officials and local leaders who demanded the release of a grandmother who was detained.
In Los Angeles, the ICE raid prompted anger and unrest. Trump deployed the National Guard, sparking frustration from California’s Governor Gavin Newsom, who said the president was “hoping for chaos.”
Outside of City Hall Monday, speakers stepped up to share stories from communities, stories of fear, family separations and people being picked up by ICE at check-ins or near schools. Union members demanded the release of SEIU President David Huertas, a U.S. Citizen who was arrested while documenting an ICE raid in Los Angeles.
Organizers also laid out clear demands: investigations into local police cooperating with ICE, protections for municipal ID programs and an end to arrests at courtrooms and immigration offices.
“If we don’t stand up for something, we’ll lie down for everything,” said Gregory Mann of Equity and Transformation, a Chicago-based group led by and for formerly incarcerated people focused on racial and economic justice.
National advocates said the issue wasn’t just about immigration but extended to civil rights and was a call to action to take a stand.
“This is a test to see if the American people will allow the federal government to take away our constitutional rights to free speech and due process,” said Becky Belcore, co-director of NAKASEC, a national Asian American grassroots immigrant justice group.
“Immigrants are being cruelly scapegoated; we must see the truth and act now,” Belcore said.
Lucy Bapiste is a Borderless reporting intern. She can be reached at [email protected].
Da poder a las voces de los inmigrantes
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