When you hear the story of what unfolded last week — as ICE agents descended on Concordia Cemetery, entering private property without a warrant, using bolt cutters to open a locked gate, detaining four citizens who work for the cemetery, using pepper balls on them, sending one to the hospital, holding them for five hours before releasing the workers without charges — one is left with a simple conclusion:
These ICE agents are thugs. Unrestrained by the U.S. Constitution, inept in making an arrest safely, determined to always ratchet up confrontations with peaceful protesters or, in this case, working people asking for time to talk with their bosses about how to respond to ICE demands, the provocateurs unleashed on the Chicago area by Donald Trump demand that we stand up to them.
Mayor Rory Hoskins and Betty Alzamora, a park district commissioner and advocate for immigrants, did just that on Monday at a press conference at Constitution Court on Madison Street. Standing with three of the four men taken into custody by ICE last week at the cemetery, these elected leaders were plain spoken in describing the ways this encounter violated constitutional norms and demonstrated full disregard for the law.
Alzamora was clear when she said, “All people, regardless of immigration status, have rights.” And she said the responsibility each of us has is to “document, protect and bear witness” to the actions of these federal agents.
Hoskins said Monday that this was the only known incident of ICE turning up in Forest Park. So far. But let’s be vigilant. Let’s show up for our neighbors. That’s Forest Park. That’s America.
