Chicago…The Immigration War Zone In America….

You knew things would NOT be a walk in the park in a Big Urban American City….

The proble seems to be that Federal agents are breakinbg the ‘rules and laws’ in their zeal to project their power to ‘seize’ just about anybody, including undoucumented and sometime legal American citizens and Trump’s “Justice Dept.’ seems to be no help….

Only lawsuits folloowing up….

After the actions…

 

CHICAGO (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 crackdownstarted 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 which pop up daily across neighborhoods in the city of 2.7 million and its many suburbs….

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Rodrick Johnson, a U.S. citizen briefly detained, said agents broke through his door and placed him in zip ties.

“I asked if they had a warrant, and I asked for a lawyer,” the 67-year-old told the Chicago Sun-Times. “They never brought one.”

Dixon Romero with Southside Together, an organization that’s also been helping residents, said doors were knocked off the hinges.

“Everyone we talked to didn’t feel safe,” he said. “This is not normal. It’s not OK. It’s not right.”

Pritzker, a two-term Democrat, directed state agencies to investigate claims that children were zip tied and detained separately from their parents, saying “military-style tactics” shouldn’t be used on children. Several Democratic members of the Illinois congressional delegation met near the site Sunday, calling for an end to immigration raids.

DHS officials said they were targeting connections to the Tren de Aragua gang. Without offering details on arrests or addressing how children were treated, DHS said “some of the targeted subjects are believed to be involved in drug trafficking and distribution, weapons crimes, and immigration violators.”…

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More tear gas and smoke bombs

Meanwhile, the use of chemical agents has become more frequent and visible in the past week. Used initially to manage protesters, agents used it this week on city streets and during immigration operations, according to ICIRR.

An emergency hotline to report immigrant agent sightings topped 800 calls on Friday, the same day activists said agents threw a cannister of a chemical near a school in the city’s Logan Square neighborhood. The activity in the northwest side neighborhood prompted nearby Funston Elementary School to hold recess indoors…

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“ICE acted like an invading army in our neighborhoods,” said state Rep. Lilian Jiménez, a Democrat. “Helicopters hovered above our homes, terrifying families and disturbing the peace of our community. These shameful and lawless actions are not only a violation of constitutional rights but of our most basic liberty: the right to live free from persecution and fear.”

Immigration agents shot a woman they allege was armed and tried to run them over after agents were “boxed in by 10 cars.” She and another person were charged Sunday with forcibly assaulting, impeding and interfering with a federal law enforcement officer. However, activists said immigration agents caused the multi-vehicle crash and detained the woman, who is a U.S. citizen….

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Going to court

Leaders of a Chicago suburb that’s home to an immigration processing center have taken their fight against federal agents to court.

The village of Broadview has become a front line in the immigration operation. The center in the community of 8,000 people is where immigrants are processed for detention or deportation.

Protests outside have become tense with near daily arrests. Civil rights organizations have blasted aggressive tactics by agents, while village officials have launched three separate criminal investigations against federal agents….

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Also pending is an expected ruling on alleged violations of a 2022 consent decree on how federal immigration agents can make arrests in six states including Illinois. While the order expired in May, attorneys have sought an extension and filed dozens of more alleged violations in the past month…..

More….