Families, Faith and Labor Leaders, and Community Advocates to Denounce Immigration Enforcement Raids, Announce Resources
Groups will urge Chicago ICE Field Office Director Ricardo Wong to use discretion and not raid families under his jurisdiction. They will also announce steps to inform community members about their rights and ways to organize, including a hotline number (855-435-7693 or 855-HELP-MY-FAMILY) to obtain legal services information and to report civil rights violations by immigration agents during raids.
A Press conference denouncing immigration raids on immigrant families in Chicago and announcement of available resources, including hotline number and information about legal support for those in deportation proceedings, will be held today, Tuesday January 5, 2016 , 11:00 a.m., in front of the Chicago Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Field Office, at 101 W. Congress.
Central American families and immigrants who have been affected by prior immigration raids, immigrant rights advocates, legal providers and faith and labor leaders will attend the press conference. Organizations include Organized Communities Against Deportations, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, National Immigrant Justice Center, PASO – West Suburban Action Project (PASO), Latino Union of Chicago, the Chicago Religious Leadership Network, Centro Autonomo, and others.
Over New Year’s weekend, ICE conducted immigration raids in Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas, as part of an operation to detain and deport Central American families who have a removal order. The people who are being targeted are some of the most vulnerable immigrants – children and families who are seeking refuge from violence, persecution, and death, who have had little or no support navigating the complex immigration system, and who may not have received adequate notice of their court dates. It has also been reported that these raids have swept up children and family members who were not among the targets of the operation and involved potential civil rights violations.
In Illinois, more than 800 families could be targeted by these raids, but ICE agents could very well arrest and detain other individuals beyond their targets. Chicagoland organizations are urging ICE Chicago Field Office Director Ricardo Wong to use discretion in immigration enforcement tactics and not execute these raids in the area under the jurisdiction of his office. These organizations will also announce efforts to reach out to Central American families and other immigrants who are at high risk of being targeted by these immigration raids.
