Last week ten Chicagoans, including mothers who were taken from their families, were lured and unjustly detained by ICE at a routine immigration check-in. As Trump and Kristi Noem’s fascist attacks on immigrants escalate daily, Chicago communities and progressive elected officials work around the clock to defend our neighbors. The fight for immigrant justice calls for ending deportations, and ending the racist and xenophobic systems of cruelty that are intended to spread fear and isolation across our communities while inciting violence from anti-immigrant racists. We condemn this vile escalation nationwide, including the targeting of garment workers in LA as well as the arrest of SEIU leader David Huerta.
History tells us that the process of dehumanizing and targeting our most vulnerable communities is designed to numb those who are less vulnerable to ever-increasing human rights violations. Make no mistake: if they are coming for one of us, they are coming for all of us. White supremacist “border czar” Tom Homan targets Chicago specifically because of the collective power, knowledge, and municipal protections we have built as a Welcoming City that embraces our immigrant neighbors. Meanwhile, the for-profit prison company GEO Group, owner of BI Incorporated where these detentions took place, makes billions off the persecution of our community members. ICE’s despicable actions this past week cannot be allowed to happen again.
Sanctuary means sanctuary. No more deportations. No more family separations. Free Gladis. Free them all.
