Chicago religious leaders brace for mass deportations, stop holding in-person Spanish services: report
Chicago religious leaders have reportedly gathered to discuss their role in protecting undocumented immigrants from deportation.
“Advocates and local leaders warn that mass deportations could affect undocumented, mixed-status and new migrant families alike,” according to The Chicago Tribune.
The Lincoln United Methodist Church was once a “sanctuary” for undocumented immigrants. Now services for Spanish speakers will take place “virtually every Sunday from now on,” the Tribune reported.
“… Even that sacred space does not seem safe,” Francisca Lino told the Tribune.
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Thomas Homan, senior official acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), speaks during a Department of Homeland Security news conference to release year-end figures related to immigration enforcement, border security and homeland security, Dec. 5, 2017. ., in Washington, DC (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Lino, a weekly visitor to Lincoln, wife of an American citizen and mother of six, said her family will now gather for services in front of the computer. She reportedly has “no criminal record” and has been in the U.S. for 25 years, but has kept her job, her attorney told the Tribune.
Lino was previously arrested while crossing the southern border in 1999 and then deported back to Mexico. In 2001, she crossed the border again. She eventually “settled in Bolingbrook, where she married her husband the same year.”
Lina’s decision to watch church services online with her family in fear of another deportation comes as Chicago’s undocumented community and their advocates are preparing for a change of administration.
Other reports indicate that anonymous sources claim that the Trump administration plans to end a longstanding policy that prevented ICE officers from conducting arrests of undocumented people at schools, houses of worship, hospitals or other so-called “sensitive locations.”
According to the Tribune, Brandon Lee of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights said “the organization is preparing for Chicago and Illinois to be targeted by creating a plan to connect community members with local rapid response teams.”
“Following threats from the incoming Trump administration that Chicago will be the epicenter of mass deportations, Emma Lozano, an activist and pastor at Lincoln United Methodist, has decided to move her Spanish services online as the church prepares to protect its undocumented immigrant community. English services will remain in-person “, the Tribune reported.
Border Czar Tom Homan has warned that Mayor Johnson will be prosecuted if he obstructs ICE’s mass deportation efforts. (Reuters)
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Mexicans make up the largest share of immigrants in the US
Chicago leaders said the Mexican community would be the hardest hit. Chicago also has a large community of Venezuelans, who reportedly make up a large portion of the roughly 50,000 migrants who have crossed the southern US border in the past two years.
Trump’s pick for border czarTom Homan, vowed to head to Chicago with tough enforcement while criticizing Illinois political leaders.
Speaking at a GOP holiday party on the Northwest Side last month, Homan detailed his plan, promising to verify the status of asylum seekers and arrest anyone harboring illegal immigrants.
“Chicago is in trouble because your mayor is bad and your governor is bad,” Homan said at the party.
He also invited Governor JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson to meet with him and negotiate the plan.
Furthermore, Homan warned that Mayor Johnson will be prosecuted if he is hinder ICE’s mass deportation efforts.
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As the migrant crisis continues and crime rises in the Windy City, Mayor Johnson enacts a 60-day eviction policy from migrant shelters. (Getty Images/AP)
A statement from Pritzker’s office, obtained by a local Fox affiliate, read: “It’s no secret that Illinois will face countless, baseless attacks from the Trump administration over the next four years. Instead of responding to every ridiculous boast from Trump’s lackeys, Governor Pritzker he’s focused on what he was focused on during Trump’s first term: running our country competently instead of in chaos.”
Neither Johnson nor Pritzker’s office immediately responded to a request for comment.
Fox News Digital previously reported on the attacks by Chicago residents Mayor Johnson and other city officials, accusing them of “ignoring” citizens’ constitutional rights, complaining about tax increases and demanding more transparency about how the city is handling the migrant crisis.
