The Elgin Area Rapid Response Team has noticed an escalation in ICE detentions in the Elgin area in recent weeks, members told the crowd who gathered Sunday for an opposition rally at DuPage Court in downtown Elgin.
“We’re not sure what we’ll see in the spring, but we have seen an uptick,” said a volunteer who identified herself only as Amparo. “We cannot let our guard down.”
The event, dubbed the People’s Liberation Rally, drew about 150 people, which was smaller than previous protests but one in which attendees were loudly vocal in their opposition to the detentions being carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Elgin and elsewhere.
There were also positive chants from the crowd, who urged people to rebuke hate and welcome immigrants.
The Elgin Area Immigrant Alliance, which includes agencies like Centro de Información, coordinated the rally with the Elgin Area Rapid Response Team, which was created by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
“The purpose of the Rapid Response Team is to investigate, document and assist families affected by deportation,” Amparo said. “(Volunteers) are legal observers trained to document abuse of rights and violations of local and federal laws carried out by federal agents. … We do so in the pursuit of justice and liberation for all.”
As of January, there were 73,000 people being held in detention, she said, noting that several detention arrests occurred in Elgin on Saturday.
“The work has never been more urgent,” Amparo said. “We will not rest.”
Speakers shared information on resources available to immigrants and their families and Know Your Rights initiatives. They also read statements from those affected by ICE operations.
The alliance holds information sessions to teach immigrants and citizens what their rights are should they be confronted by ICE agents.
“We know an informed community is a powerful one,” Amparo said. “We become an unstoppable force.”
“If ICE stops us in the streets, we know our rights,” the crowd chanted.
“I am a proud Mexican, and I am a proud American,” said Amairani Jarvis, a community organizer for Centro de Información. “For so long, I (thought) I had no voice because of my status. I was wrong. I do have a voice. And so does everyone else. Everyone who is undocumented has a voice, and we have allies who can be that voice.”
Among the experience statements shared with the crowd was one from a fifth-grade who fears his parents will be taken away.
“I shouldn’t have to live this way,” he wrote. “I shouldn’t have to worry about my doors being locked because of ICE. My family shouldn’t have to be hiding.”
Local activist Josue Cardenas read a statement by a man detained by ICE for a month in a federal facility.
Being imprisoned without any contact with family and sleeping on the floor was very difficult, the man wrote. He had a piece of bread for breakfast and two bottles of water for the day. He went without a shower for days and wore the same clothes.
“For me, it was a form of mental torture,” the man wrote. “It left me deeply scared, and it’s something I have to live with.”
Another speaker, an immigrant from Canada, said liberty and justice are for all, and it’s something for which everyone should fight. A rallying call in Canada against President Donald J. Trump’s administration is “elbows up,” he said. The term is used in hockey and means to fight back, he said.
“Elgin, elbows up,” he said. “Fight back, not violently but through action.”
The Elgin City Council is to discuss an ordinance at its Wednesday night meeting that would support and foster inclusivity and diversity in the city. The proposal, known as a welcoming city ordinance in other communities, calls for the city to provide language access, create a voluntary city ID program and establish an immigrant legal defense fund.
Rally organizers encouraged those in favor of the measure to attend the meeting and voice their support.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
