Chicago activists plot response to ICE academy
‘Coordinated attack … requires coordinated political response,’ say immigration protesters
Sandra Diaz of the Mano a Mano Family Resource Center decries a series of Trump administration initiatives as “a coordinated attack that requires a coordinated political response.” (One Illinois/Ted Cox)
By Ted Cox
CHICAGO — Activists called out the Trump administration Tuesday for what they consider a multi-pronged attack on aspiring immigrants in a news conference outside a federal building in Chicago.
“It is a coordinated attack that requires a coordinated political response, and we are ready,” said Sandra Diaz of the Mano a Mano Family Resource Center.
About a dozen grassroots groups joined in the news conference outside the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services regional office in downtown Chicago. They took issue with several recent initiatives launched by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and its Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, including a so-called Citizens Academy training residents to aid in rounding up undocumented immigrants, federal DHS agents being assigned to Chicago, and a proposed ICE detention center in Dwight they charge would violate state law.
Diaz said the plans amounted to a “constant terrorizing of our communities,” adding, “Enough is enough.”
Maggie Lugo, of Casa Michoacan, charged that the ICE Citizens Academy would “train vigilantes to take matters into their own hands” and that it is “not welcome in Chicago.”
“They claim it is a community-outreach effort to educate civilians,” said Sara Zaleta of Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, or the United Workers’ Center. “Let’s get real. This academy is part of a coordinated effort against immigrants in our city.”
“Let’s get real. This academy is part of a coordinated effort against immigrants in our city.”
Sara Zaleta (One Illinos/Ted Cox)
The groups joined with others that are already planning a “People’s Academy” march in Chicago on Sept. 15, the date the ICE academy is said to launch in Chicago. The ICE Citizens Academy has already drawn flak across the Illinois congressional delegation, including U.S. Reps. Jan Schakowsky of Evanston and Mike Quigley and Jesus “Chuy” Garcia of Chicago.
“The academy seeks to justify racist violence,” Zaleta added. “The ICE academy is white supremacy in action.”
Adrienne Davis, of Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation, said it would create a civilian force of “locally trained vigilantes.”
Ana Guillen, of the Southwest Suburban Immigrant Project, said the groups would enforce a new state law they lobbied for last year banning private detention centers — like one being considered in Dwight, just northeast of Pontiac. “ICE doesn’t care about the law, and it doesn’t care about immigrants,” she charged.
Fasika Alem, of the United African Organization, charged the Trump administration with “mismanagement” of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency, resulting in a backlog of immigration applications and higher fees for processing work permits and the like.
Estephany Hernandez, a 15-year-old with the Southwest Suburban Immigrant Project, said she’s an aspiring Dreamer, meaning that she was brought to this country as a child, and now seeks a path to citizenship under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. She said she has her paperwork ready to apply, but DHS is no longer accepting new DACA applications — in defiance of a recent Supreme Court ruling. “We will fight back,” she said.
In addition to the march planned for mid-September, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights is leading what it calls a “digital call to action” organizing opposition to the various Trump administration initiatives.