CHICAGO (CBS) — With President-elect Donald Trump having pledged to stage a sweeping crackdown on unlawful immigration instantly after he takes the oath of workplace on Monday, native leaders and immigrant rights teams in Chicago met Saturday morning within the Pilsen neighborhood to ensure the group is ready.
The incoming Trump administration is planning to ramp up operations to arrest unauthorized immigrants across major U.S. cities next week after President-elect Donald Trump takes workplace, concentrating on “sanctuary” jurisdictions that restrict cooperation with federal immigration officers, two sources aware of the plans inform CBS News.
Sources inform CBS information sanctuary cities like Chicago might be focused as early as Tuesday.
ICE officers within the Chicago space lately put out a request for brokers to take part within the post-inauguration arrest operations, unbeknownst to high company leaders in Washington, a U.S. official aware of the developments instructed CBS News.
Many immigrant rights teams within the Chicago space have been reaching out to undocumented immigrants forward of Trump’s inauguration, in an effort to get ready for what might be coming.
Mari Rodriguez mentioned “there are good days and there are unhealthy days,” however she’s grateful for daily she works promoting tamales to the Pilsen group.
“We got here to work. We got here to work,” she mentioned.
She migrated from Venezuela, and has been in Chicago only a 12 months.
“Yes, I stay right here in Chicago,” she mentioned.
Rodriguez mentioned she’s fearful about what may occur on Tuesday if U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrive in Chicago as promised by President-elect Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, who has mentioned Chicago might be “floor zero” for his or her mass deportation efforts.
“We’re going to begin proper right here in Chicago, Illinois,” Homan said during a visit to Chicago last month.
U.S. Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-IL) mentioned such threats are nothing new to the migrant group.
“This group has been the topic of assaults and immigration raids going again to the Nineteen Sixties,” he mentioned. “That they wish to intimidate a metropolis that will rise up for justice and safety for everybody is to be anticipated.”.
Garcia and different native elected leaders joined immigrant advocates on Saturday to reassure and remind the undocumented group of their rights.
“You have the best to stay silent. You have the best to not open the door. You have the best to ask to talk to an lawyer,” mentioned Ere Rendon, vice chairman of immigrant justice for The Resurrection Project, a neighborhood nonprofit.
The reminder comes a day after a Wall Street Journal report cited sources claiming as much as 200 ICE brokers are coming to Chicago as early as Tuesday to hold out large-scale deportation efforts.
“Right now, there is no such thing as a official assertion or order that raids are going to be going down. Do we count on further brokers to be despatched right here? Of course. Starting maybe on Tuesday? We do not know,” Garcia mentioned. “It’s going to take time. The necessary factor is to stay calm, as Chicago has finished when examined in different occasions as properly.”
ICE raids occurred in Chicago in 2018, however in 2022 the American Civil Liberties Union settled a lawsuit with the Department of Homeland Security, requiring adjustments in how ICE can function in Illinois.
“ICE shouldn’t be going as much as random folks on the streets and asking to see their documentation, and that is why it is necessary that individuals that they’ve the best to stay silent if ICE does try this,” Rendon mentioned.
The message migrant advocates needed to ship is to not be afraid, however to be ready.
“Regardless of your authorized standing, you might have rights,” U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) mentioned.
Hispanic leaders in Chicago mentioned they’re bracing for what adjustments could come, however mentioned some results are already beginning to present.
“It causes all types of fears and destabilization, particularly into our financial system,” Ramirez mentioned.
The Resurrection Project arrange a hotline to assist households in the event that they’re affected by an ICE raid they usually needed to ensure everybody had it: 855-435-7693
