Over the weekend in Chicago Illinois, an apartment complex was raided by ICE agents, who deployed chemical agents near a public school and handcuffed a Chicago City council member to a hospital bed. In an article published by PBS titled “Immigration agents become increasingly aggressive in Chicago”, written by Ali Swenson, “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”. Residents are feeling the effects of these raids and report feeling unsafe in their neighborhoods as a result.
These raids are targeted at cities known for having a large immigrant population. These raids put into question every citizen’s freedom and safety. Many news sites are reporting that a majority of people being deported and detained are being arrested and sent out of the country without due process, along with reports of over two thirds of the people being held in these facilities going missing with no reports or logs to where they were sent. “As of late August, about two-thirds of the 1,800 immigrants who were held there in July have gone missing from ICE’s online database, with their families and attorneys unable to locate them” claims Journalist organization Democracy Now!, during an interview with Shirsho Dasgupta, a Miami Herald reporter.
A warning from political activists online has surfaced, warning the public about people impersonating ICE to kidnap and assault women, along with what to look for and say if an ICE agent comes to your house or approaches you out in public.
WHAT IS DUE PROCESS AND WHY DOES IT MATTER
According to the International Rescue Committee in an article titled Why due process matters for every American, including non-citizens,“Under the U.S. Constitution and laws, due process requires just and fair treatment of everyone, regardless of background or immigration status, if their life, freedom, or property is at risk. This includes having the opportunity to defend their rights in court”. This means that no matter a person’s legal status, they are entitled to due process. Due process is a cornerstone in the US and how the legal system operates, it’s what gives people a chance to be heard before a fair decision-maker, and protecting fundamental rights. It’s not just the law it’s in the US constitution, any laws or legislation that go against the constitution are rendered invalid.
According to The Guardian in an article written by Maanvi Singh, Will Craft and Andrew Witherspoon, titled “How Trump has supercharged the immigration crackdown – in data“, The US government has deported more than 8,100 people to countries that are not their home country. This makes people question the true intention of these arrests, if people are being deported to places they are not originally from with no way to contact their friends and family, where does that put people who are deported despite being a citizen. Although it is not a common thing, there have been reports of people being deported illegally despite having proper documentation. These reports have surged with the absences of due process. In June of this year, the average daily arrests shot up 268% compared to last year. Despite Trump’s claim to be going after “the worst of the worst”, it’s indicated that a majority of immigrants detained had no criminal record. The facilities are now overcrowded and are well over capacity by 13,500 people.
This surge was marked by a shift toward arresting people without criminal records and occurred amid increased enforcement efforts. Raids targeted workplaces and significantly impacted both communities and industries that relied on migrant workers. The data collected shows how many of the arrests are unjust and don’t align with what the government states the purpose of these raids.
HOW WE HAVE SEEN ICE AFFECT STUDENTS IN LAUSD AND FAMILIES IN LA
Last year when Trump came into power, we had a fluctuation of ice raids, and since then it’s been skyrocketing. Many students have openly expressed fear for their families and safety at schools in LAUSD, questioning if the schools had the power to keep students safe. In response to this fear many students took it upon themselves to protest, news and media stations reported school walk outs led by students, protesting the ongoing ice raids. In recent news these school protests have died down and now are only seen by organized groups outside of schools, such as No Kings. No Kings is an online organization that aims to organize protests that millions of Americans and immigrants can participate in, which involve rallies and scheduled days where people in cities all over the US essentially shut down their cities in protest of Donald Trump’s executive orders for ICE raids.
SCHOOL PROTECTIONS
As these raids started hitting closer to LAUSD schools, the school district mandated for red cards to be distributed and offered for any student to have. On these cards is an English and Spanish translation of students rights as a citizen and what to say if ICE approaches you off school grounds.
It’s a law that ICE cannot enter school grounds without active warrants for specific people and signed by a judge, but how long till those orders are ignored? Time and time again citizens have seen how ICE has blatantly ignored federal laws and constitutional rights. At some point you must look around at what’s going on and ask yourself, is this really what this country is about? Are you truly protected and safe? For now, students are assured that they are safe on school grounds. Teachers are making efforts to show that no matter legal status, every student in their classes is equal and protected, but how long will that last?