Immigration protesters in Chicago gathered at Daley Plaza amid continuing ICE raids and the deployment of the National Guard during demonstrations in California.
That deployment was ordered by President Donald Trump without a request from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has threatened to sue the administration over what he called “an illegal act, an immoral act, an unconstitutional act” in an interview with MSNBC.
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WATCH HEREAccording to the Associated Press, the deployment was the first done without a request from a governor since at least 1965.
Dozens of arrests were reported during the Los Angeles demonstrations, which escalated on Sunday amid a deployment of the National Guard. The actions were praised by some Republicans but harshly criticized by Democrats.
Among those detained was David Huerta, president of the Service Employees International Union’s California chapter. That arrest was a driving force behind Monday’s protest at Chicago’s Daley Plaza, drawing dozens of protesters and Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García.
“We’re not going anywhere. This isn’t about safety. This is about control,” García said during the rally. “Fear is the tactic, silence is the goal. This is not about immigration. This is about domination of all of our communities.”
The crowd called for Huerta’s immediate release, ending speeches with chants of “Free David!”
“He was wrongfully detained,” said Genie Kastrup, president of a Chicago-based SEIU chapter. What happened to Huerta “is about more than a single leader. It is a direct assault on all of us.”
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SIGN UP The group also called out the Trump administration’s aggressive tactics on immigration enforcement, including a travel ban and arrests last week at a Chicago office used for Immigration and Customs Enforcement check-ins.
“Ripping parents apart from their children, kidnapping people, showing up to what they thought was a routine check-in at ICE, National Guard patrolling our communities. This is cruelty with intent,” García said.
Those arrests in Chicago led to a confrontation between ICE agents and demonstrators, with more than a dozen individuals ushered into waiting ICE vans during the enforcement action.
ICE said in a statement the individuals detained had “final orders of removal” signed by a judge.
“Those arrested had executable final orders of removal by an immigration judge, and had not complied with that order,” ICE said in the statement.
According to ICE, those taken into custody were part of the agency’s “Alternatives to Detention” program, which “ensures compliance with release conditions and provides important case management services for aliens on ICE’s non-detained docket.”
Case reviews are frequently conducted for those individuals, and “may influence continued placement” in the program. Those reviews typically take places at offices for the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, according to officials.
Family members told Navarrete that relatives had received text messages from ICE requesting their presence for “a standard checkup on” their cases.
The Chicago City Council’s Latino Caucus released a statement following the arrests.
“The actions taken today send a chilling message to our immigrant communities: that even those who follow the law are at risk,” the statement read, in part. “We reaffirm our commitment to protecting the rights and dignity of all immigrants in Chicago and demand immediate answers and accountability for today’s events.”
More protests are expected to take place in Chicago in coming days, but García said he doesn’t believe a National Guard deployment will occur in the city. He did warn to be wary of “outside agitators” in a conversation with NBC Chicago’s Patrick Fazio.
