CHICAGO (CBS) — With President-elect Donald Trump having pledged to stage a sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration immediately after he takes the oath of office on Monday, local leaders and immigrant rights groups in Chicago met Saturday morning in the Pilsen neighborhood to make sure the community is prepared.
The incoming Trump administration is planning to ramp up operations to arrest unauthorized immigrants across major U.S. cities next week after President-elect Donald Trump takes office, targeting “sanctuary” jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration officials, two sources familiar with the plans tell CBS News.
Sources tell CBS news sanctuary cities like Chicago will be targeted as early as Tuesday.
ICE officials in the Chicago area recently put out a request for agents to participate in the post-inauguration arrest operations, unbeknownst to top agency leaders in Washington, a U.S. official familiar with the developments told CBS News.
Many immigrant rights groups in the Chicago area have been reaching out to undocumented immigrants ahead of Trump’s inauguration, in an effort to get ready for what might be coming.
Mari Rodriguez said “there are good days and there are bad days,” but she’s grateful for every day she works selling tamales to the Pilsen community.
“We came to work. We came to work,” she said.
She migrated from Venezuela, and has been in Chicago just a year.
“Yes, I live here in Chicago,” she said.
Rodriguez said she’s fearful about what might happen on Tuesday if U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrive in Chicago as promised by President-elect Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, who has said Chicago will be “ground zero” for their mass deportation efforts.
“We’re going to start right here in Chicago, Illinois,” Homan said during a visit to Chicago last month.
U.S. Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-IL) said such threats are nothing new to the migrant community.
“This community has been the subject of attacks and immigration raids going back to the 1960s,” he said. “That they want to intimidate a city that would stand up for justice and protection for everyone is to be expected.”.
Garcia and other local elected leaders joined immigrant advocates on Saturday to reassure and remind the undocumented community of their rights.
“You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to not open the door. You have the right to ask to speak to an attorney,” said Ere Rendon, vice president of immigrant justice for The Resurrection Project, a local nonprofit.
The reminder comes a day after a Wall Street Journal report cited sources claiming up to 200 ICE agents are coming to Chicago as early as Tuesday to carry out large-scale deportation efforts.
“Right now, there is no official statement or order that raids are going to be taking place. Do we expect additional agents to be sent here? Of course. Starting perhaps on Tuesday? We don’t know,” Garcia said. “It’s going to take time. The important thing is to remain calm, as Chicago has done when tested in other times as well.”
ICE raids happened in Chicago in 2018, but in 2022 the American Civil Liberties Union settled a lawsuit with the Department of Homeland Security, requiring changes in how ICE can operate in Illinois.
“ICE should not be going up to random people on the streets and asking to see their documentation, and that’s why it’s important that people that they have the right to remain silent if ICE does do that,” Rendon said.
The message migrant advocates wanted to send is not to be afraid, but to be prepared.
“Regardless of your legal status, you have rights,” U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) said.
Hispanic leaders in Chicago said they are bracing for what changes may come, but said some effects are already starting to show.
“It causes all sorts of fears and destabilization, especially into our economy,” Ramirez said.
The Resurrection Project set up a hotline to help families if they’re affected by an ICE raid and they wanted to make sure everyone had it: 855-435-7693
