Elected Officials in Chicago Look for Tools to Squeeze ICE Out of Public Spaces
As the Trump administration ratchets up its targeting of immigrant communities across the Chicagoland area, elected officials are looking for any tool they can find to protect their residents from militarized raids and roving bands of Border Patrol officers.
Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans banned civil arrests at county courthouses across Chicago this week, preventing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from arresting and attempting to deport people who show up to public courtrooms for matters unrelated to immigration.
The order went into effect on Tuesday and comes as federal judges and public officials in Illinois continue to push back against President Donald Trump and Operation Midway Blitz, ICE’s ongoing immigration crackdown in the Chicago area, after weeks of militarized chaos and violent arrests
Immigration violations are a civil, not criminal, offense, despite the Trump administration’s repeated attempts to brand them that way. Under a policy established shortly after Trump took office that opened formerly protected areas such as schools and churches to immigration enforcement, ICE agents have arrived at Chicago area courthouses masked and unannounced to arrest people showing up for regular hearings, often without arrest warrants or uniforms clearly identifying them as ICE agents, according to Cook County Commissioner Jessica Vasquez.
Vasquez said local officials and advocates were particularly alarmed after ICE made an arrest in September outside a courthouse that hears cases filed by victims of domestic violence.
https://truthout.org/articles/elected-officials-in-chicago-look-for-tools-to-squeeze-ice-out-of-public-spaces/
I'm really proud of how Chicago is sticking it to Shitler!
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