CHICAGO (WLS) — Advocates for immigrants reported that over a dozen individuals, who thought they were attending a standard immigration check-in in the South Loop on Wednesday, ended up being detained by ICE.
ABC7 Chicago was present on Wednesday afternoon, witnessing a large crowd gathering outside an office associated somehow with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the 2200-block of South Michigan Avenue.
An immigration lawyer informed ABC7 that the individuals who were taken into custody had received a text message to come in for a review of their cases, but upon arrival, they were promptly detained by ICE.
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There was clash in the South Loop as immigration advocates and some city and state leaders tried to create a barrier around an immigration facility.
More than a dozen people were seen being taken away from the office by what appeared to be ICE agents.
The faces of the men and women being put into a total of two vans have been blurred because ABC7 Chicago does not know whether they face any charges.
ICE said in a statement, “Those arrested had executable final orders of removal by an immigration judge and had not complied with that order.”
It was a very tense scene as people were unhappy with what was being done there.
“Law-abiding people coming to report to do the right thing, and they come to meet the government with guns, looking to separate families,” 40th Ward Ald. Andre Vasquez said.
Immigration advocates said many of those arrested are migrants, living in the U.S. without legal permission, who normally check in at that location as part of their process to stay in the United States.
It’s the intensive supervision appearance program office, known as ISAP. It is a system used in Chicago and across the country to monitor individuals released from ICE custody, while they await immigration court proceedings.
Immigrant advocates said that people received texts this week from ISAP to report to the office, and instead of it being a routine check-in, where they would leave after, they were detained.
Soon after, ICE agents arrived, as did a few aldermen.
A man, who wanted to be referred to as “Abuelo,” said he dropped off his friends, including a Guatemalan mother of three boys, for what he said was supposed to be a routine check on their immigration cases at the ISAP office.
“They go inside, and they automatically took their phones and shut off the phones. And, right now, we don’t know where they’re at,” Abuelo said.
Immigration attorney Cynthia Fernandez provided text messages to ABC7 that she said were sent out by ISAP last-minute to the undocumented people to come in to review their cases. She said her client was oddly taken into another room.
“Even though I am the immigration attorney of record, they said that I had to wait outside,” Fernandez said. “I did, even though I don’t believe that’s correct.”
Fernandez said she was later told her client was placed in ICE custody.
In a letter to Homeland Security, Congresswoman Delia Ramirez of Illinois’ 3rd District said the tactics used by DHS “circumvent the Constitution, undermine due process, and erode the rule of law.”
At one point, 35th Ward Alderman Anthony Quezada and 33rd Ward Alderwoman Rosanna Rodriguez Sanchez sat on the ground, blocking an ICE van from pulling into a lot next-door to the ISAP office.
After more ICE agents arrived, the angry crowd shouted “shame,” as more than a dozen people were brought outside into the vans. Many were crying after the vans pulled off.
Chicago police were called to the scene, but the department said they were not aware of any ICE activity when they arrived and did not help in any arrests.
Several Chicago police officers were on the scene to ensure the safety of all involved, including those exercising their First Amendment rights, a statement from CPD said. At no point did CPD assist in immigration enforcement, police officials said.
It’s not known exactly where the people were taken and what happens next.
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