BROADVIEW, Ill. (WLS) — There were concerns this Father’s Day over potential deportations.
Some Chicago families were on edge Sunday after receiving messages about their immigration cases.
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Families are once more experiencing discomfort after reporting that their loved ones received notifications via either text or email to report to a Broadview facility this weekend concerning their ongoing immigration case.
“I think Father’s Day should be with family and we’re here with family,” stated Francisco Ayala, whose daughter-in-law was requested to check in. “We are supporting her.”
Ayala spent Father’s Day being present for his daughter-in-law. Though she wished to remain off camera, she informed ABC7 that she was among several individuals who got a message to report to the Broadview facility this weekend for her current immigration case.
“She got blindsided, like I think everyone else, so she had to come in and basically say, ‘I’m here to keep going with the status change,'” Ayala said.
The messages prompted attorneys, immigrant advocates and elected officials to come out to Broadview. Many of them are fearing a repeat of what happened at the South Loop facility just weeks ago, where several people were taken into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
“Many of the people we’ve seen today, their families are kids, they are children,” 25th Ward Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez said. “We don’t want families to be separated.”
“Me and other lawyers tried to reach deportation officers and EROs to find out what is going on and why are clients would be asked to come on a weekend,” immigrant rights lawyer Kelman Resnick said. “None of our emails or phone calls were returned.”
On Sunday, families anxiously waited outside the facility to learn their loved one’s fate.
“The handful of folks who have gone in for their appointment, they have been able to leave, granted with an ankle monitor for monitoring, but it’s the continued difference of whether you get to stay with your family and continue to work your case or you’re immediately deported or detained,” 20th District State Senator Graciela Guzman said. “So they live to fight another day.”
Elected officials and immigrant advocates said they will continue to show up to the immigration appointments to ensure families have both legal and emotional support.
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