The ongoing ICE intervention and deportation surge is all around us and playing out on some of our streets, including here on the far Northwest Side of Chicago. Some of us are terrified, some of us are heartbroken, many of us are anxious, and – what I hope is a small portion of people in our area – are actually celebrating. We are here in the 19th House District where 22% of the population is Latino. We are here in the U.S, where a SCOTUS ruling* on 9/8 leaves open the possibility that ICE agents can legally use ethnicity among other factors when making immigration sweeps.
As many have seen, ICE shot a father in Franklin Park on 9/12 and we have zero transparency and no body camera footage. There are serious open questions due to unofficial video footage that *has* surfaced. Without the tools of body cams and transparent investigations, we lack a critical mechanism for all law enforcement legitimacy in our democracy, which is always needed, but especially when the worst happens (a father shot dead). This bodes well for no one.
I am not comfortable with any of this. This does not feel like America. Two years ago we were bringing food to undocumented families in police station lobbies, which was our way of helping to keep people alive in an untenable situation, as adults and children were caught up in multiple social and economic policy failures, including uncoordinated busing from Texas. [For the record, NOBODY should be living in police station lobbies]. Today, ICE is prowling for and breaking down the doors and smashing the car windows of many of those same families, mostly without criminal warrants. All of this enabled by the $170B** in funding of immigration and border enforcement-activities in HR1, signed on July 4th. For political perspective, remember, this bill passed the House by ONE vote. For financial perspective, our state budget is $55B and far too many of our front line human service workers, often with masters degrees, make less $45K/year while ICE recruits get $50K sign on bonuses.
Like many of you, I am carrying this around with me and the blatantness of this political attack is loud and clear. Even with our work in the General Assembly to pass the “Trust Act” in 2017 and the “Illinois Way Forward Act” in 2021***, there is no law that prohibits local law enforcement from assisting federal authorities WHEN there is a criminal warrant. If we are concerned about true violent criminal behavior beyond just unauthorized immigration, federal authorities should get criminal warrants and work with the local authorities. Stop breaking down people’s doors, smashing car windows, and disappearing our loved ones.
This is my long way of saying:
++I am feeling for the communities of Franklin Park, Elgin, Belmont Cragin and the family of Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez, among so many others.
++I am feeling for our mixed status families who are living with fear and anxiety.
++I am feeling for our hard working parents who drop their kids at school, squeezing them extra tight, and I am feeling for the parents who keep their kids home.
++I’m feeling for the businesses on 18th street, 26th street and 47th street that carry fear AND economic pain. For those who don’t know, the GDP of the U.S. Latino population equates to the fifth largest in the world compared to other economies, topping India, the United Kingdom and France****. Their economic pain is our economic pain.
I choose hope and prosperity over fear and chaos and I’m proud to represent communities full of so many people who choose the same. Know your Rights and use the Family Support Network hotline.
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