Tag: suburbs

Federal agents knock on the door of a residence in Lyons during an immigration enforcement action over the weekend. Immigration authorities also have deployed in Palatine, Mundelein, Deer Park and Round Lake, advocates say.
Bloomberg

As deportations ordered by President Donald Trump spread across the suburbs, advocacy groups said they’re intensifying efforts to keep Latino immigrants informed and unified amid unease.

Federal authorities have deployed in multiple towns in recent days, including Deer Park, Palatine, Mundelein, Round Lake and Waukegan, immigrant leaders said.

“Rightfully so, our communities are fearful, they’re anxious, they’re stressed,” said Dulce Ortiz, executive director of Mano a Mano Family Resource Center in Waukegan.

Last weekend, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers “were just knocking on doors at an apartment complex in Waukegan,” Ortiz said. If the agency is “targeting people with criminal backgrounds, why aren’t they holding warrants?”

Immigrant Solidarity DuPage Coordinator Cristobal Cavazos headed to Palatine on Sunday after hearing of a contingent of ICE officers parked near a popular Hispanic grocery store.

“They say, they’re just looking for criminals, don’t worry. But in the process, they nab anybody that they can get,” Cavazos said.

Trump Border Czar Tom Homan told News Nation Wednesday that of “last count there were like 700,000 illegal aliens in this country with a criminal conviction. That’s our No. 1 target.”

Itzel Sernas was unnerved Sunday afternoon when a number of vehicles parked near the Deer Park Mexican restaurant where she works and agents with the ICE insignia got out.

Immigration advocates provided the Daily Herald with video taken at a Palatine apartment complex where residents saw ICE officials deployed. ICE has not confirmed any actions in Palatine yet.
Courtesy of Immigrant Solidarity DuPage

The officials surveyed the restaurant for a while and left.

“We were a little shocked,” Sernas said. “It is scary, but it’s sad (for) people who have lived here for so many years and are working hard. Why don’t you look for the people who are doing bad stuff instead of coming here and looking for people who are working hard?”

ISD and Mano a Mano spent weeks prior to the inauguration holding “Know Your Rights” sessions. Immigrant Solidarity is telling people, “Don’t talk, don’t open the door, don’t sign (anything) and ask to speak with a lawyer.”

“If they have no warrant, there is no obligation to open the door,” Cavazos said.

Still, undocumented longtime residents with jobs and families are looking over their shoulders, he noted.

“We’re trying to combat this paranoia with direct action and solidarity.”

ABC 7 reported an Elgin man without a criminal record was swept up by U.S. Marshals who had an arrest warrant for a relative Tuesday.

“I saw they were taking my dad through the side door. He was already in handcuffs; so, I didn’t know much,” daughter Janeth Lopez told ABC.

“No family deserves this,” she said in a GoFundMe post.

ICE has not yet responded to a Daily Herald request for information on suburban enforcement.

“Chicago was an outstanding operation,” Homan said Wednesday, adding agents have removed sexual predators, child predators, sex offenders, convicted murderers and numerous gang members.

“These were bad guys. It’s a dangerous operation, but we made Chicago a lot safer. The streets are a lot safer. It’s just a shame we can arrest these guys in the county jail, but they’re a sanctuary city, they won’t let us into the county jail.”

Other federal agencies like the FBI are assisting and “we want to increase the number of teams. We want to get the deportations up,” Homan said.

Meanwhile, Viator House of Hospitality in the Northwest suburbs is not expecting any issues.

The not-for-profit organization hosts young men who escaped violence and crime in foreign countries and are legally in the U.S. pursuing asylum claims. Residents either work or attend school while at Viator.

“We are confident that their rights to be in the United States will be respected during this era,” Executive Director the Rev. Corey Brost said.