JOINT STATEMENT from the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, La Villita Se Defiende, and Berwyn Cicero Rapid Response:

On Thursday, October 23, Little Village and the Town of Cicero experienced another ICE and CBP rampage through our communities, putting our families and neighbors in danger. Since January, the Trump regime has been turning the federal government against cities and towns across Illinois, in an attempt to get our communities to comply in advance with his hateful agenda. As our communities have shown - in Little Village, Cicero, and across Illinois - we are fighting back against this authoritarian power grab, and rejecting the lies that have been coming out of DHS before and after every one of their violent actions.

As members of Congress arrive in Chicago this week for a field hearing on ICE and CBP’s brutality against our communities, we ask that they lift up the events of today as part of the burgeoning occupation and scare tactics being used by the administration, and demand that their fellow representatives take action to end this attack on Chicago, Cicero, Illinois, and all places facing political retribution from Trump.

Today, Rapid Response Teams in Cicero and Little Village observed these excessive, unnecessary tactics meant to stoke fear in our community:

• Tear gas deployed with no warning, in seeming violation of recent court orders

• At least 20 CBP and ICE agents driving at least 10 vehicles circling shoppers in a Cicero parking lot.

• Chicago Police Department seemingly protecting ICE and CBP agents terrorizing our communities

• Abduction of two teenagers in Little Village, and a total of at least 10 abductions across this part of today’s operation

• At least two dozen agents from ICE and CBP intimidating customers in the Little Village shopping district

• Greg Bovino again posing as cult leader against a backdrop of the heart of Chicagoland’s Mexican community, staging for his own photo op while agents brutalize residents

• Detaining people seeking healthcare at Lawndale Christian Health Center

Upon departure from the Little Village area, ICE and CBP agents disbanded and brought their hateful operation through the Pilsen and Bridgeport neighborhoods, which were monitored by fellow teams in our Rapid Response Network.

Like yesterday in Little Village and Cicero, and in communities across the region, neighbors once again showed up to support one another and sound the alarm in the face of this operation. Neighbors began to notify others about presence as people entered work in the morning; rapid response team members blew whistles in the Walmart parking lot to alert customers; and  up-and-down 26th street, people stepped out of their houses and businesses to document this raid and show that our communities have power in numbers. For the second day in a row, these on the spot actions by Cicero and Little Village residents helped stop ICE and CBP’s attempt to further occupy the neighborhood.

We encourage all community members to know your rights: you have the right to record law enforcement activity in a public space, the right to remain silent, the right to ask for an attorney, and the right to refuse to sign anything. If you see immigration enforcement activity in your neighborhood or if someone in your family has been taken, please call the ICIRR Family Support Hotline at 855-435-7693. Together we continue to demand ICE out of Chicago, out of Cicero, and out of Illinois.