Chicago is bracing for early morning raids — possibly beginning Tuesday — as the second Trump Administration aims to follow through on its threat of mass deportations, beginning with undocumented immigrants with criminal records.
Beatriz Ponce de Leon, deputy mayor for immigrant, migrant and refugee rights, warned City Council members of the impending street sweeps during a series of virtual briefings Friday.
Nobody knows for sure when and how President-elect Donald Trump and his “border czar” Tom Homan will begin to deliver on their threat to make Chicago “ground zero” for mass deportations.
But Chicago will be ready, with advocates organizing “Know Your Rights” workshops and distributing cards in Latino neighborhoods with bilingual information on residents’ legal rights. “Rapid-response teams” of volunteers are also set to be dispatched to the scenes of raids to take cellphone video from a safe distance.
Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th), a strong advocate for immigrant and refugee rights, said it only makes sense to prepare for the worst.
He noted that the “first raid in Chicago” during Trump’s first term as president occurred about a month after he took office, and it was a “big show” that ended with fifty people detained and a press release touting the round-up of “bad guys.”
“People say he didn’t expect to win in 2016. Certainly, he didn’t have the connections, nor did his team have the connections that they have now,” Ramirez-Rosa said. “So it makes sense that you would see similar enforcement to what we saw in February 2017. However, we could see it sooner.”
With raid rumors running rampant, Ramirez-Rosa said the most important preparation is to “know your rights.” That goes for a “lawful permanent resident, a U.S. citizen or [someone with] no legal status — you are protected by the U.S. Constitution.”
That gives you the right to: remain silent; refuse a federal agent entry into your home or business, unless they have a judicial warrant; and request and review a warrant if an agent shows up at your home or business and asks for entry.
You also have a right to ask that federal agent to show you the warrant through the window or by slipping it through the mail slot or in the mailbox before you open that door, Ramirez-Rosa said.
“If they don’t have a warrant, you don’t have to open the door — and don’t open the door,” he said.
The rapid response teams are expected to play a pivotal role in determining whether reports of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids are real or rumor. If reports are verified, volunteers will be dispatched to the site to “observe what’s happening,” Ramirez-Rosa said.
“There is what’s called `ICE watching,’ where folks will record from a safe distance. They won’t get involved. They won’t break any laws. This is nonviolent activity. But, we will observe what exactly ICE is doing [and] record it because that can oftentimes be used post-detention to assist the person who is detained and facing deportation,” the alderperson said.
Ramirez-Rosa said the rumors spreading like wildfire in immigrant communities “don’t seem totally off-base,” simply because it has happened in Chicago before.
“ICE goes through public databases … and various other lists that they purchase and they get home addresses. They put together a profile of individuals who they believe are priorities for deportation,” he said.
“They then conduct raids. They’ll show up to a workplace to detain someone. It’s not uncommon for them to show up to someone’s home and detain them early in the morning, particularly as they leave home for work.”
Ald. Michael Rodriguez (22nd) spent Friday canvassing with legal information cards along 26th Street in Little Village, where some food vendors said their sales were down “due to people being fearful and staying at home.”
“There are lots of rumors and for now, they’re just that: rumors,” Rodriguez said. “We have yet to learn anything substantiated, so we don’t want to feed in that fear.
“It’s possible nothing happens on Monday. It could be weeks or months before anything happens. But it’s a fact that we have to be prepared. Just like folks plan on their savings and their monthly budget, they should also be prepared to come across immigration authorities.”
That includes people with legal status, Rodriguez said. “We know for a fact that in previous administrations, even citizens have been embroiled with immigration enforcement activities, so folks should know their rights.”
Rose Garcia, a citizen who lives in Little Village, said fears in the neighborhood over the prospect of ICE raids is palpable.
“The biggest fear is the lack of due process,” Garcia said. “In any major event, there’s always the risk of collateral issues, but the idea that people won’t get a chance to be heard or go before a judge to say, ‘Hey, this is a mistake — I’m a citizen or a legal resident,’ is terrifying.”
Contributing: Rafaela Jinich
