Statement on the ICE raid in South Shore

In the early morning hours on Tuesday, September 30, a group of masked, armed, and alleged ICE agents raided an apartment building in the South Shore neighborhood of Chicago.

Under the guise of trying to find and arrest undocumented immigrants, these armed personnel - who we can only hope were real federal agents and not vigilantes - also detained and/or arrested Black and brown U.S. citizens, including four children.

They tore up apartments, destroyed property, and disrespected our community. They shook people out of sleep and zip-tied their hands, regardless of their citizenship status.

We know all too well what can happen when armed mobs and law enforcement enter Black homes in the middle of the night - just ask the families of Emmett Till, Fred Hampton, Sr. and Breonna Taylor.

"They had the Black people in one van, and the immigrants in another van", stated Marlee Sanders, whose partner was wrongfully detained in the raid. On this night, immigrants and Black citizens shared the same plight. History teaches us that what may start as an attack on one group spreads like a cancer to all marginalized communities.

The Workers Center for Racial Justice has always stood in solidarity with immigrant communities, who are close partners in our shared efforts to foster a more equitable society here in Chicago and beyond. 

This solidarity isn't just morally just, empathetic or charitable. It is also in our self-interest to build cross-community solidarity: because ICE's actions aren't actually about undocumented status. They are about race.

Less than 24-hours later, another group of alleged federal agents nearly choked a Black man to death, this time on the West Side of Chicago. This scene was eerily similar to what happened to Eric Garner in New York and George Floyd in Minneapolis. 

Federal ICE agents choke a Black Chicagoan - a U.S. Citizen - following a car crash on the West Side. Mayor Johnson stated: "These agents are rogue, unaccountable, and cannot be trusted to keep Chicagoans safe...The recklessness of these unchecked federal agents puts all Chicagoans at risk, regardless of their immigration status.”

The time has come for all of us to tell this administration, loud and clear, to get out of Chicago, out of Illinois, out of our states. To demand that they stop terrorizing our immigrant brothers and sisters. We can no longer afford to sit on the sidelines of this fight. Our lives are literally on the line. 

There is no "us vs. them". We must all reject all forms of occupation and oppression, perpetrated against any community. Let us all be reminded that targeting one community will result in the targeting of every community. Supremacy has always been the ultimate prize in this country, and white Christian nationalists will continue to use force and violence to erase those of us who don’t look like them, behave like them, or share their beliefs.We stand with impacted families during these times of federal occupation and terror. If you or someone you know needs assistance - or you have information on ICE activities to report - please contact the Family Support Network Hotline that our comrades at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) are managing. You can reach them at 855-435-7693. 

P.S.: ICIRR has been at the forefront of Chicago's response to ICE, working round the clock to monitor their whereabouts, support vulnerable community members, and protect Chicagoans. Please consider making a donation to support their essential work!