Keegan D. | Red Phoenix correspondent | Illinois–
Since beginning operation “Midway Blitz” – an aggressive push to arrest immigrants with criminal records in Chicago – Trump’s modern brownshirts, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), have unleashed a wave of reactionary violence most recently culminating in an attack on a teacher at a pre-kindergarten school, Rayito del Sol. But the people of Chicago are organizing together to fight back, and you can too.
The entirety of I.C.E’s operation in Chicago has been marked with extrajudicial murders, lies to community officials, illegal detainments, unprovoked street brawls against citizens exercising their right to observe, and the tear-gassing of children in residential areas (a war crime).
I.C.E has been particularly brutal in its attacks around schools, as they have targeted both school officials and parents attempting to drop off or pick up their children in recent weeks, a tactic which resulted in the murder of Silverio Villegas Gonzalez in October. Until recently this tactic of targeting individuals on their way to and from schools was limited to off campus grounds, however, on November 6th I.C.E escalated their assaults on education yet again by detaining a Pre-k teacher who was already inside the Rayito del Sol daycare building and was attempting to go to work. I.C.E did this without a judicial warrant to enter the building, and according to parents interviewed at the school, made the arrest at a time of peak traffic of children and parents, traumatizing many already afraid to go to school due to fears of detention. The educator was then reportedly taken to the Broadview detention facility, which, based on the statements of judge Robert Gettleman in a recent trial, currently is forcing detainees to sleep on the floor or in plastic chairs next to overflowing toilets, and is where I.C.E agents have reportedly been Illegally attempting to force individuals to sign “voluntary” deportation orders without legal counsel present.
These Fascist abuses cannot be allowed to continue to escalate. Every time I.C.E enters a neighborhood, they bring chaos and violence with them, and then lie through their teeth to the public about their conduct. It is clear that federal authorities inside the Trump regime have given today’s brownshirts impunity from prosecution for their brutality, and instead hope that they will be able to either provoke Chicagoland residents into committing an adventuristic act of retaliation so they can justify further deployment of federal troops, or terrorize us into quiet submission. The Trump regime thinks that if they can scare or subdue Chicago, the site of some of the most vocal working class opposition to Trump’s regime, they can replicate their model of domination across the country. This cannot be allowed to happen.
Thus far the working class of Chicago has continued to show incredible levels of both solidarity and discipline by rapidly organizing against raids and snatch-n’-grabs through the formation of rapid response community defense groups, by hosting educational events on how to avoid and resist I.C.E, organizing tenants to demand an eviction moratorium, and by applying pressure on elected officials through mass demonstrations to prevent cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
However, as I.C.E escalates their attacks, these efforts to counter their abuses must also be strengthened further. In order to prevent I.C.E from carrying out operations like the one at Rayito del Sol daycare, our resistance must grow. The working class’ strength to resist fascistization comes from our numbers, and we need your help! Instead of allowing Chicago to be a model for Trump’s takeover, its working class must serve as an example to the entire country on how to reject the fascist advance.
If you are in Illinois and would like to learn how to fight back against I.C.E in your community please attend an upcoming rapid response training hosted by the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights online at 6:00pm on the following dates: Nov. 12, Nov. 19., Nov. 26, Dec. 3, Dec. 10, and Dec. 17. These trainings will provide information on how to prevent I.C.E from abusing your community, and how to best support those facing detention. Next, please sign the Eviction Moratorium letter being organized by the All Chicago Tenants Association, the Chicago Union of Tenants, and others which will prevent tenants from losing their homes or and face the dual threat of deportation and eviction.