Immigration groups prepare own academy to counter ICE
Immigration advocates plan to hold a “people’s academy” to counter efforts by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to create a “Citizens Academy.”
Activists announced plans Tuesday outside of the federal agency’s field office in the Loop while people held signs stating “Abolish ICE” and “Reinvest in communities.” Organizers were still working out the details, but they plan to have a teach-in style event where immigrants will learn about what rights they have if confronted by an immigration agent.
The people’s academy will start Sept. 15, which is the same day the federal agency plans to start its own academy in Chicago. On Monday, another group of immigration advocates announced plans for a march through the Loop as part of their opposition to ICE’s academy.
The federal agency has said the academy is meant to give residents insight into its operations, and it’s not supposed to train people to do the job of immigration agents.
“The Citizens Academy also affords ICE the opportunity to hear from participants, understand their perspectives and debunk myths,” ICE said in a news release.
The six-week academy will include an overview of immigration history, a demonstration of the training immigration officers go through, a tour of a jail housing detainees and information about the division that oversees flights that deport people, according to an ICE official.
But advocates have pushed back, describing the academy as an example of white supremacy and fearing it will harm immigrants.
“This is a coordinated attack that requires a coordinated political response, and we are ready,” said Sandra Diaz, from the suburban Mano a Mano Family Resource Center, which provides social services to immigrants.
Diaz and other advocates called on the agency to end the planned academy and urged citizens to register to vote.
Kobi Guillory, with the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, called for solidarity among Black and Brown communities, describing their modern-day struggles to past civil rights movements. He called for officials to defund police, saying officers aren’t equipped to address the root causes of violence.
“We have to stand up with solidarity the same way that our ancestors stood up when they attacked us when we were trying to be free from slavery, the same way that our ancestors stood up when they attacked us from when we were trying to be free from Jim Crow,” Guillory said.