Bracing for ICE sweeps set to start Sunday

Consuelo Martinez considers herself a devout Catholic who attends church every Sunday, but the looming threat of large-scale raids that could result in thousands of immigrants being deported has her questioning her ritual.

“Should I really go to church or not?” Martinez said in Spanish. “I don’t know what will happen until I wake up that day.”

Martinez, who spoke Friday at an immigration rally in Chicago, is a community organizer whose family includes people with varying immigration status. She’s fearful about what might happen during the planned ICE enforcement.

“I ask you to support our immigrant communities … be present during this week where we are most at risk,” Martinez said.

Martinez is among activists in the Chicago area who for weeks have held meetings to educate immigrants about their rights and touted strategies for resistance. Those who oppose the ICE action plan to hold vigils at several locations around the Chicago area and beyond Friday evening, and thousands are expected to convene at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Daley Plaza to protest the planned sweeps.

The enforcement campaign comes weeks after President Donald Trump first tweeted about and then delayed the sweeps. Reports have indicated the raids are expected to target families who have received deportation orders but could include so-called collateral detainment of other undocumented immigrants who are present when agents show up.

But on Friday, Trump confirmed the raids will begin this weekend and told reporters that agents will focus on detaining people with criminal backgrounds. Trump has said such efforts will not only remove dangerous people from the country but serve as a deterrent for other foreigners who are considering migration to the U.S.

What might a raid look like if it comes to your neighborhood?

When is the special enforcement campaign scheduled to take place? ICE has not released specifics of their plans, but reports indicate the raids could begin as early as Sunday morning before sunrise. ICE raids typically take place between 3 and 5 a.m. because most people are home during those hours, experts said.

Where will the raids happen? News reports have indicated the raids will happen in major cities across the country, including Chicago. Federal immigration agents will likely have a list of addresses based on the last known home address for the person facing deportation, but agents could also use public databases to find where the person lives, said Erin Cobb, a Chicago-based immigration attorney.

Will this be a one-day action? Probably not. News agencies have reported they will begin Sunday and continue throughout the week.

Can ICE agents raid private homes? Yes, but only if they have a warrant signed by a judge with the subject’s specific name and address on it. The agents cannot force their way into homes with a simple administrative warrant, experts say. Given these restrictions, advocacy groups have encouraged people to keep their doors closed to ICE agents and refuse to let them in their homes unless the agents slide a warrant signed by a judge under the door.

People who encounter immigration enforcement agents also have the right to contact a family member, to remain silent or to walk away if they aren’t under arrest, said Ruth Lopez-McCarthy, an attorney with the Chicagobased National Immigrant Justice Center. The Rev. Beth Brown, of Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church, spoke at a recent rally and encouraged people to videotape any enforcement activities as a way to document if someone’s rights are violated.

Can people be detained without a deportation order? Yes. ICE agents can ask to see immigration papers of anyone inside the home and arrest any undocumented occupants. These detainments — known as “collateral” deportations — have occurred during previous ICE raids, so advocacy groups expect them during the upcoming enforcement effort as well.

What about any children in the home? Children remain the greatest concern for advocacy groups. Reports have indicated that if the entire family is undocumented, family members — including children — may be housed in local hotels until ICE determines where to send them to await deportation. If the children are legal residents or U.S. citizens, the Department of Homeland Security’s current guidelines allow the deportee parent to make arrangements for suitable child care before being taken into custody. If the parent can’t find someone to take the child, the child could turned over to the Department of Children and Family Services. Whether ICE will follow its guidelines or the deportee parent will be able to find a documented relative or friend to answer their phone before dawn remains a concern for advocacy groups.

What happens after someone is detained? ICE typically takes a detained person to a processing center — there is one in suburban Broadview and another in the South Loop — where the person will be fingerprinted, photographed and asked questions, Cobb said. Where exactly someone is detained depends on which facility has open bed space. In Illinois, the federal government has contracts with four local jails to house people facing deportation, according to ICE’s website. The government also contracts with jails in Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Wisconsin and Indiana to house people facing deportation who have cases out of Chicago’s immigration court.

However, the New York Times has reported that ICE could use hotel rooms to detain people in the raids because of space limitations. There also aren’t any facilities in the Chicago area that can house families together, meaning those detained could be sent to a facility in Texas before they are deported, experts say.

What happens when someone is returned to their home country? Deportees who are returned to Mexico are typically returned to a border crossing near Brownsville, Texas, said Reyna Torres Mendivil, Mexico’s consul general for Chicago. They are given paperwork that allows them to obtain an identification card, open a bank account and travel throughout the country. The border documents also can be used for a free bus ride from the border crossing to the deportee’s hometown. Deportees are also offered some social services, including a shelter where they stay to collect their bearings and, if possible, contact a relative in Mexico to come get them.

Can detainees try to stop their deportation? If the person’s native country isn’t Mexico or Canada, it typically takes the federal government a couple of weeks before the person is deported. However, experts say that process could be expedited during the raids if the government has made travel plans for those they plan to arrest.

Even if someone has been given a final deportation order, an attorney can still file a motion to reopen the case in immigration court and file an emergency motion to stop the deportation, Cobb said. The person can petition to have his or her case reopened for a variety of reasons, including family circumstances or because of significant changes in their native country that could make it dangerous to return.

What are potential deportees being encouraged to do? Since the president first announced the large-scale raids on Twitter, advocacy groups have encouraged people to prepare themselves and know their rights. That includes taking photos and video recordings of any ICE activity in their home. Targeted parents are also being encouraged to have child care plans in place in case they are taken into custody.

Cobb urged immigrants to consult with an attorney now about the specifics of their case to see what legal avenues are available. If a final deportation order had been filed, an attorney can try to file a motion to reopen the case before the person is detained.

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights has opened a hotline, 855-435-7693, where anyone can call to report immigration enforcement activities or to seek legal help.

Are these raids unprecedented? This would not be the first time ICE has executed sweeping immigration raids across the country. The Obama administration ordered more than 2 million people deported, including those swept up in series of raids between October and November 2015, according to a Politico report. His record led some advocacy groups to refer to him as the “Deporter in Chief.” But given Trump’s antiimmigrant rhetoric, advocacy groups say they have no idea what to expect.

“There’s already a sense of fear,” said Wendy Cervantes, the director of immigration and immigrant families at the Washington-based Center for Law and Social Policy. “Now there is going to be even more so.”