Chicago, IL – On August 31, 200 people protested outside the Broadview ICE facility. The protest was organized by the Immigrant Rights Working Committee of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (IRWC – CAARPR), which launched a campaign earlier in the summer with aims at closing the Broadview facility.

Kayla Nguyen of the IRWC opened the rally, stating “The so-called Broadview Processing Center has no beds, no showers and no hot meals. They are holding people in there for days. That’s not a processing center, that’s a de-facto detention center. Today we’re protesting to call on State Attorney Eileen Burke and Attorney General Kwame Raoul to launch an investigation into these injustices, uphold the Illinois Trust Act, and close the Broadview facility!”

The Broadview ICE facility has been a key location for federal immigration operations around Chicagoland, and where many kidnapped community members have been taken for processing. Under Illinois law, ICE can operate processing centers for very brief holding times, but is restricted from operating detention centers, including local jails. Many people kidnapped by ICE are taken to such processing centers and then shipped off to another state to await deportation. However, the Broadview facility has been holding people for prolonged periods of time, sometimes up to a week, which has made it into a de-facto detention center.

The Broadview facility lacks beds, meals, kitchen, showers, access to communication and basic dignities for those held there.

“I have seen firsthand the horror within this facility. I have worked within immigrant rights for almost ten years. We have never seen these kinds of conditions in the Chicago area. It’s important that we note them and that we stand against them because we cannot allow this to be our norm,” said Louise Carhart, a lawyer and member of the IRWC.

Carhart continued, “We have laws against detention in Cook County. We have laws against detention in Illinois. We need to enforce our laws and make sure we are showing up for immigrants like Tito Ernie who was released this past week. Tito Ernie was originally detained at the Broadview ICE Facility and at O’Hare. Chicago and Illinois are leaders in this fight and we need to show them why that is.“

Upon arrival, organizers and protesters were met with a significant response from local Broadview police, who eventually closed down the street to block additional traffic due to the amount of people. ICE agents hid inside the building, periodically sending out third party contractor security to pester and provoke those gathered. This protest took place just days after several protesters from an unaffiliated group were arrested for civil disobedience while blocking the entrance of the facility.

Outside the facility, protesters heard from various speakers in the immigrant rights movement, joined in chants to raise their demands, and blocked the entrance of the facility for two hours before departing.

The protest was attended by many people from the community who had heard or seen flyers online or in their neighborhoods, and by many members of endorsing organizations such as the Casa Dupage Worker’s Center, the Arab American Action Network, Tanggol Migrante, and the U.S. Palestinian Community Network.

Readers can take action by calling and emailing the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and Illinois Attorney General to demand they investigate the Broadview ICE facility and shut it down. An automated message can easily be sent to these elected officials by using the form at: https://www.caarpr.org/irwc#send-letter-to-close-broadview

#ChicagoIL #IL #ImmigrantRights #IRWC #CAARPR #CPWC #AAAN #TanggolMigrante #USPCN

Chicago, IL – In the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, February 28, around 150 students walked out of Sullivan High School to protest against ICE. The students, with support of community groups, were able to have a successful walkout and add to the visible resistance in Chicago.

The Immigrants’ Rights Working Committee of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (IRWC – CAARPR) played a big supporting role in this walkout, helping students with flyering-materials, posters, banners, megaphone, etc. The IRWC met the students outside, alongside other community groups like Rad Rogers Park, Kabataan Alliance, and New Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Illinois Chicago (New SDS at UIC).

“Let us live in peace”

“We will not let you take our families from us. We are now more united than ever. And we are here to resist!” said a senior at Sullivan High School, as they opened for the small rally in front of the building.

“How is this fair? How is any of this fair? Why can’t we pursue our education in peace? Why can’t we live without constant fear and anxiety?” a high school student asked the crowd, expressing the fear that they, and many students with immigrant family members, have since Donald Trump has taken office.

Next, a member of Kabataan Alliance spoke in solidarity with the students at Sullivan and of the fear that Filipino migrants are also feeling under these attacks, stating, “People are scared to say anything about being undocumented. There’s a lot of stigma. We really need to fight against that. It is not our fault that we are forced to migrate from our home countries.” With the United States’ military and economic intervention in the Philippines causing these migrations, there are around 300,000 to 1 million Filipino immigrants who are undocumented in the U.S.

”For the students here who marched out, I want you to know that was brave and what you’re doing right now is powerful. It is right to act in civil disobedience when injustice is happening!” said Gio Araujo from New SDS at UIC in support of the students. They talked briefly about the walkout the New SDS at UIC organized at their university, showing that students everywhere are protesting against ICE in their schools and campuses.

Araujo continued, “We at the New SDS, and right now the Sullivan students, are part of this big movement to build this visible resistance against the reactionary Trump agenda. For many of us, the next four years are gonna be more of this, more of building a movement against racism and reaction in this country.”

Finally, Angel Naranjo of the IRWC ended the rally stating, “This here is what we gotta be doing, resisting. Powerfully and visibly! We need to get more organized and mobilized. We need to ramp it up, we need to turn up the heat!”

Naranjo continued, “Let’s keep it up! Let’s build connections, get in contact, because this fight is not over, it’s only the beginning. From May 1st to May 5th in this city we are going to have a round of protests!” Naranjo hinted at the planned mass May Day demonstrations that the Coalition Against the Trump Agenda (CATA) and the Consejo de Resistencia en Defensa del Inmigrante are preparing for.

Youth under attack!

Chicago has seen the kidnapping of family members and parents of Chicano/Latino youth by ICE. The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) have been targeted. Back on January 29, a man in the Little Village neighborhood was kidnapped by ICE, after he and his wife had dropped off their child at school. And most recently, February 26, even outside of CPS, a father was taken outside of the Soto High School/Idar Elementary charter schools.

These attacks on immigrant communities have caused fear, causing an attendance decrease of Chicano/Latino students in CPS schools. The most active young people have understood the need to mobilize and create a visible powerful resistance against these attacks. Break the wave of fear and anxiety with action and resistance. Immigrants and the youth are under attack, the students are ready to stand up and fight back!

#ChicagoIL #IL #StudentMovement #ImmigrantRights #HighSchool #SDS #NAARPR #IRWC #Feature