Politics
Chicago’s immigrant communities are preparing for the worst amid President Donald Trump’s promises of mass deportation for undocumented immigrants.
But city and state officials are working with community groups to inform immigrants of their rights and reminding agencies of Chicago’s sanctuary city status.
“We’re very aligned around our sanctuary status as both city and state,” said Beatriz Ponce de León, Chicago’s deputy mayor of immigrant, migrant and refugee rights. “The city, our role is to serve and protect all of our residents. For us, this is both about upholding civil rights and human rights, but also about community safety. And so we’ve decided that we are going to make sure that people have the information they need to make informed decisions for themselves and their families.”
Among other initiatives, the city has released a “Know Your Rights” resources guide and has partnered with the CTA and other local advocacy organizations to launch a new “Know Your Rights” digital ad campaign. The ads will be displayed on more than 400 video screens across the CTA system.
“It’s the first time that we are promoting ‘Know Your Rights’ in such a widespread way, and the signs that we developed are in four different languages, so that we know that this is a multilingual city, and we want everyone to have access to the information,” Ponce de León said. “What we are doing is continuing to put guidance out in the city to our departments and our sister agencies about what they can do in the case of federal law enforcement coming to their locations. This is guidance that is based on our city ordinance as well as on the Illinois Trust Act.”
In the first few days of his second term this week, Trump has already signed a number of executive orders on immigration, including an order to allow immigration arrests at sensitive locations that were previously taboo for more than a decade, including schools and churches.
“It is really tragic that they would take away the safety of these sacred places,” Ponce de León said. “You think about churches, schools and hospitals where people should feel that they can be there and be safe. It’s reasonable to be worried. People are concerned and many, many folks don’t really understand what it means to be separated from your family, what it means to possibly never see a loved one again or for many years … And so we recognize that, and at the same time we want to continue to make Chicago a welcoming city. We want people to know that they can be here, come here for opportunities, to be part of their communities and do what we can to collectively reassure our fellow Chicagoans.”