Associated Press (AP) — Storming an apartment complex by helicopter as families slept. Deploying chemical agents near a public school. Handcuffing a Chicago City Council member at a hospital. Activists, residents, and leaders say increasingly combative tactics used by federal immigration agents are sparking violence and fueling neighborhood tensions in the nation’s third-largest city.
“...They are the ones that are making it a war zone,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Sunday on CNN. “They fire tear gas and smoke grenades, and they make it look like it’s a war zone.”
More than 1,000 immigrants have been arrested since an immigration crackdown started last month in the Chicago area. The Trump administration has also vowed to deploy National Guard troops in its agenda to boost deportations.
But U.S. citizens, immigrants with legal status, and children have been among those detained in increasingly brazen and aggressive encounters that pop up daily across neighborhoods in the city of 2.7 million and its many suburbs.
Arriving by helicopter, activists and residents are taking stock at an apartment building on Chicago’s South Side where the Department of Homeland Security said 37 immigrants were arrested recently.
While federal agents have mostly focused on immigrant-heavy and Latino enclaves, the operation unfolded in the largely Black South Shore neighborhood. Agents used unmarked trucks and helicopters to surround the five-story apartment building, reportedly rappelling from Black Hawk helicopters. Residents reported that agents went door to door and used zip ties to restrain them, including parents and children.
“I asked if they had a warrant, and I asked for a lawyer,” said one U.S. citizen who was detained.
Pritzker has directed state agencies to investigate claims that children were zip-tied and detained separately from their parents, stating “military-style tactics” shouldn’t be used on children. Meanwhile, the use of chemical agents has increased, with a report of a canister being thrown near a school, prompting the school to hold recess indoors.
The village of Broadview, home to an immigration processing center, is taking its fight against federal tactics to court. Civil rights organizations have criticized aggressive tactics by agents, which have led to ongoing protests and community unrest.
Leaders are demanding investigations and legal actions against federal agents as immigrant and civil rights groups rally for accountable practices in immigration enforcement.
“...They are the ones that are making it a war zone,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Sunday on CNN. “They fire tear gas and smoke grenades, and they make it look like it’s a war zone.”
More than 1,000 immigrants have been arrested since an immigration crackdown started last month in the Chicago area. The Trump administration has also vowed to deploy National Guard troops in its agenda to boost deportations.
But U.S. citizens, immigrants with legal status, and children have been among those detained in increasingly brazen and aggressive encounters that pop up daily across neighborhoods in the city of 2.7 million and its many suburbs.
Arriving by helicopter, activists and residents are taking stock at an apartment building on Chicago’s South Side where the Department of Homeland Security said 37 immigrants were arrested recently.
While federal agents have mostly focused on immigrant-heavy and Latino enclaves, the operation unfolded in the largely Black South Shore neighborhood. Agents used unmarked trucks and helicopters to surround the five-story apartment building, reportedly rappelling from Black Hawk helicopters. Residents reported that agents went door to door and used zip ties to restrain them, including parents and children.
“I asked if they had a warrant, and I asked for a lawyer,” said one U.S. citizen who was detained.
Pritzker has directed state agencies to investigate claims that children were zip-tied and detained separately from their parents, stating “military-style tactics” shouldn’t be used on children. Meanwhile, the use of chemical agents has increased, with a report of a canister being thrown near a school, prompting the school to hold recess indoors.
The village of Broadview, home to an immigration processing center, is taking its fight against federal tactics to court. Civil rights organizations have criticized aggressive tactics by agents, which have led to ongoing protests and community unrest.
Leaders are demanding investigations and legal actions against federal agents as immigrant and civil rights groups rally for accountable practices in immigration enforcement.
