Elected Officials Accosted By ICE In Chicago
ICE Running Wild In Chicago: Elected Officials, Staffers And Students Are Caught In The Crosshairs
Even elected officials in Illinois aren’t safe from the Trump administration’s ICE crackdown in Chicago, which appears to be getting more aggressive and violent by the day.
According to the Associated Press, on Tuesday, state Rep. Hoan Huynh was going door-to-door informing businesses of increased immigration enforcement activity on Chicago’s North Side when he got an activist notification of federal agents nearby, which he said led to an incident in which federal officers pointed guns at him and a staffer, attempted to break his car window and took photos of their faces, before issuing a warning, all because he followed agents’ vehicles and honked to warn others of ICE’s presence.
“We were non-violent,” Huynh said of the incident, part of which was captured on video. “We identified ourselves as an elected official, and my hands were visible.”
Huynh isn’t the only elected official who, along with staffers, has been impacted by the ramping up of ICE activity in Chicago. In fact, the very next day after the incident involving Huynh, another similar altercation involving staff members of a local alderman occurred.
From AP:
“This is an escalation with the interests of creating fear and intimidation in my community and in all of Chicago,” said Alderman Mike Rodriguez, whose ward includes heavily immigrant and Latino neighborhoods.
During an enforcement operation Wednesday in the city’s Mexican enclave of Little Village and adjacent suburb of Cicero, at least eight people, including four U.S. citizens, were detained, he said.
Two of those citizens work in his office, including chief of staff Elianne Bahena, and were held for hours. Bahena also serves on an elected police accountability council. Rodriguez said they did nothing wrong but didn’t offer exact details.
“Trump sent his goons to my neighborhood to intimidate and in the process of helping people out, my staff got detained,” he said Thursday amid continued federal presence in Little Village. Among other things, agents deployed chemical agents and detained a 16-year-old, activists and elected officials said.
While the operation’s focus has been concentrated in Latino neighborhoods and suburbs, federal agents have been spotted all over the city of 2.7 million and its many suburbs. Word of pedestrian and traffic stops outside schools, stores, courts and an O’Hare International Airport parking lot used by rideshare drivers have triggered waves of frustration amid the city’s active immigrant rights network and residents who follow vehicles, blow warning whistles and take videos.
As we previously reported, while the Trump administration, and, specifically, the Department of Homeland Security, has claimed numerous times that the ICE crackdown in Chicago and across the nation has involved targeted operations, seeking violent, “criminal illegal aliens,” what we’ve largely seen so far is ICE agents targeting anyone who seems like they could be here illegally — which some might call racial profiling, which the DHS has repeatedly denied doing — and agents appear to be roughing up anyone who they perceive as being in their way, whether those citizens actually pose a threat or not.
According to WGN 9, on Thursday morning, two Chicago Public Schools students were detained and allegedly assaulted by federal agents on their way to school at Benito Juarez High School. The incident happened after those two students and two other students reportedly stopped near 27th and Whipple to watch a protest taking place as federal agents surrounded the area near the Discount Mall.
From WGN:
In the 10 o’clock hour, witnesses said agents deployed tear gas on the crowd and assaulted and arrested two of the students.
“I started coughing a bit and went to the park to recover and then they started throwing tear gas closer to Sacramento. They detained two young people,” State Rep. Edgar Gonzalez (23rd District) said.
One of the students was detained on site and released, while the other was taken into custody and not released until around 3 p.m. Thursday.
“What they did is illegal. They detained the over what? There’s no charges. We want to understand why they were detained to begin with,” Sigcho-Lopez said.
“These kids were en route to school. They saw the horrific scenes when you see masked individuals coming for your neighbors. They were unfortunately detained. One had blood on his face,” Byron Sigcho-Lopez, an alderman for Chicago’s 25th Ward, said.
WGN-TV was also told a Discount Mall security guard was arrested when he asked federal agents to show a warrant.
“I am so angry and frustrated that these students have to add this worry to their school day. They should be worrying about college acceptance or if they’re going to get a date for the school dance. It is outrageous and unacceptable. They shouldn’t be worried about being taken by ICE on the way to school in the morning,” Liz Winfield, teacher at Benito Juarez High School, said.
This is as good a time as any to point out that, just this week, Trump administration officials were grilled by a federal judge over ICE agents using tear gas against protesters and residents near schools and residential areas, potentially violating the judge’s previous order requiring agents to refrain from doing those things.
Still, the government continues to act like these incidents are normal, and agents are simply following standard protocol. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin justified the incident involving Huynh and his staffer by claiming agents had to assess if they were threats.
“This behavior is unbecoming of a public servant and is just another example of sanctuary politicians putting our officers at risk,” McLaughlin said.
Yeah — or maybe federal agents just need to stop running wild and behaving in ways that are “unbecoming” of people tasked with protecting the general public, not harming it.
SEE ALSO:
Federal Judge Rules ICE Must Wear Body Cameras In Chicago
ICE Agents Cuff, Arrest WGN Employee They Say Assaulted Them
Federal Judge Places Restrictions On ICE Arrests In Chicago
The People Of Chicago Are Pushing Back Against ICE
Chicago Residents Continue To Fight Back Against ICE Agents
Feds Rappel From Black Hawk In Chicago ICE Raid
‘Operation Midway Blitz’: ICE Begins Targeting Immigrants In Chicago
Federal Judge Blocks National Guard Deployment To Chicago
National Guard Arrives In Chicago As Trump Threatens Insurrection Act
Witness Accounts Of Chicago ICE Shooting Contradict DHS
Illinois Police Officer Arrested By ICE For Overstaying Visa
