One, two.
1, 2, 3, 4. One, two.
1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 1, 2.
Check, check.
Oh,
Good morning.
The Committee on Immigrant Refugee
Rights will now come to order.
Uh, today we have four items on the agenda.
The first is the approval of the September Rule 45 report,
and then three resolutions introduced by myself,
Alder person, scho, Lopez, and Alder person Mike Rodriguez.
Votes are to be taken for this matter.
We'll begin with a roll call to establish quorum.
Uh, Alder, Alder person, doo Alderwoman.
Gutierrez, other person. Nuen. Thank you.
Alder person. Rodriguez Al person.
Fuentes other person. Pharaoh.
Alderwoman. Cruz. Alderman. Cardona. Alderwoman.
Rodriguez Sanchez. Alderman Casada.
Alderwoman. Mana Howorth. Alderwoman Hadden.
Vice Chair Taylor and myself, chair Vasquez.
There are seven members present. We have a quorum.
Are there any non-members present? Nope.
Alder Persons Taylor, uh,
and Gutierrez have requested a virtual option
for committee hearing attendance in accordance
with Rule 59 of the City Council.
Rules of Order. Can I get a motion
to allow them to attend this meeting?
Virtually. So moved by Alder person, Rodriguez. Hearing.
No objections. So ordered.
Uh, at this time, we'll begin the public comment period.
The period is limited to 30 minutes.
Out of respect for everyone's time.
Each speaker is limited to three minutes.
Remote speakers will comment
first, followed by those in person.
Uh oh. For the record, uh, all the person Byron Lopez,
is here with us, the design member, uh, as of noon,
Thursday, October 14th, 2025.
Zero callers have requested to speak today.
So we'll move on to in-person speakers.
Our first speaker is Zoe Lee.
Um, it's literally about to be the battle
of the paid liberals, Mexican cartel
who act like they're advocating
for the greater good versus reality.
Hollywood and Rebe Film Festival are searching
for their next No Kings protest documentary.
Their, their, their new, uh, black Lives Matter movement
rebels without a cause.
Meanwhile, the real crisis displacement, lack of education,
and rise in violence in our communities are being ignored
by the same people who pretend to care.
And that's, and that's, that's the, that's the reality.
Like when I first started coming out here, 2023, y'all,
all y'all did was talk about black and brown, black
and brown, use our plight, all these things, making sure
that you guys made sure y'all had y'all people,
brown people, the illegals, whatever you want to call them,
new newcomers, developers, mi migrants,
whatever you was using, using to make sure they had housing.
Meanwhile, pushing us out.
Now that we got President Trump,
and I want him to incite the, uh,
the Insurrection Act, I need the, I want him
to declare martial law
because we're not gonna deal with this paid protest
of our tax dollars.
And y'all laundering them with these 5 0 1 c fours.
And the reason why y'all use 5 0 1 C four is
because they don't have to show you who's donating these
dollars to this, to this.
Cause that makes no sense.
These people came over here illegally.
These people ca this, it is not a civil matter.
It's a criminal matter. You guys can keep making this bigger
than what it is, because you don't want the federal
government to come in and really long
and really figure out why you have laundered all this money.
Our tax paying dollar, this forensic audit.
It's about to be Operation Graylord 2.0.
I really want y'all to look up what that is.
It's about to be a Rico.
Rico, because it's Rico time,
because y'all have been laundering our money, moving us out
for y'all weird agenda in the name of you guys.
This is y'all country. Y'all know
damn well is not y'all country.
So the, the, the, the, um, the civil rights
manufactured movement that y'all are trying to, to,
to give it, it, it makes y'all look like fools.
I see, Jesse, you, you, you about to file a lawsuit.
Let's see. I'm gonna see how pharmacy,
I'm gonna see if your lawsuit goes through.
'cause I'm still waiting for my lawsuit.
Yeah, for you going over there, antagonizing
like, y'all really think y'all going
to remain in these seats?
Y'all really think y'all gonna remain. You really think
that all the paid protesting money is going to.
Eventually y'all gonna have no money soon.
Find another cause. Like get your people out of our country.
Uh, thank you for the record. Uh,
Alderwoman Cruz is here for attendance.
Our next, uh, speaker is Mr. George Blakemore.
How are you?
I'm watching this park.
How fast it's gonna click on me. Anyway, Mr.
Blakemore, you don't have to be able to read or write.
You got eyes, all Mexicans
and one, one White Timothy.
All Mexicans. All
Mexicans and what?
Refugees. What about black people? What, what, what?
Your people, people, refugees.
No, they was brought over enslaved and, and changed.
Look at 'em. Look at 'em. Granny. All Mexicans, all Mexican.
And little white Timothy is right there.
Uhhuh my one black. And then they got one black.
That lady right over there in the corner called,
except Puerto Rican.
Look at her. Hey, there's no race
of people called Puerto Rican.
Darling, you black.
I see your features, your hair, everything.
You are a black lady.
There's no race of people called Puerto Ricans.
That's a territory that's owned
and controlled by the United States of America.
And the illegals come in these Mexicans way across the Rio
Grande because their government treats them like peasants.
Mexico is rich with all kinda resources.
They, they don't give them education or anything.
And you, you are a criminal.
I don't even know if your name Miguel. I don't.
We know, we know nothing about you and your background.
And then you, we know nothing. Who does that?
And the black ones who voted, were they Who voted for these,
uh, illegal immigrants?
Trump, come here and clean up this swamp.
Come and clean it up.
Look at all Mexicans and one little Chinese
and a little white uhhuh.
And then you got an agenda. Transgender is your agenda.
Oh, Uhhuh. Now why, why are you going there with that?
Want to turn a little girl into a little boy
and little boy into a little girl?
Turn yourself into that. Go. You get the operation.
Since you so gay and strong, you go and get your cut off
and something hung on Uhhuh.
Don't go there with me.
All Mexican people wasn't refugees. They was
White power. We
Entitled to all the goods and service and contractor
and jobs that this nature owes us.
And our God, we must trust.
We must use what we got to get what we want.
And if we don't use what we got as black people to get
what we want, we don't need what we got.
Cool. James Brown with the God have.
We're God damn chosen people. We got
All Mexican Time is up.
Mr. Blakemore, for the record.
Not all Mexicans, just in case people were curious.
Uh, next up, next speaker is Wendy Sanabria,
San Sanabria. My apologies.
Um, hi. My name is Wendy Sanabria.
I'm just here to say that what's going on in this country?
It's very heartbreaking. Um, it's the fear
that we all live in, not knowing like who's gonna come home,
um, who's not even gonna make it home.
Who are we gonna more next? Um,
we have children on lockdowns
because isis, outside of school,
they're texting parents not knowing
if they're gonna see their parents.
Um, just immigration's just very scary.
Um, people being are being dragged out of their homes.
They're being beat. Um,
they're drag also being dragged out of their cars.
They're being shot. Um, this is an abuse of power.
It's a group of untrained people.
Um, yes, as immigrants, we accept the fact
that we could get deported at any moment.
But this is just wrong. It's illegal.
Um, it's cruel, it's unjust. And I know that we all suffer.
Like everybody suffers. Every minority suffers.
But this, right now, it's just,
as I said, it's very heartbreaking.
Yeah. And this time we see communities coming together.
And I love my people for that.
As they say, um, I feel helpless
because I don't know how to help my community.
And that's exactly why I'm here. Thank you.
Thank you. Next, uh,
speaker is Elias, uh, ela.
Thank you. My name is Alia ELA from a organization called
Pilsen Defense and Access.
And, uh, we are here to express our support
for all three resolutions today.
Um, might talk a little bit more about the, um,
the one condemning the actions of federal agents
with regards to the child endangerment
that they've been documented to have, uh, been committing.
Uh, it, it really is time.
And I'm glad these resolutions are being put in, uh,
being proposed because it is really time to acknowledge, um,
that documented, repeated, documented actions
of federal agents and their mercenaries.
'cause many of them are simply contracted, uh, contractors
and sanitized, you know, uh, verbiage,
sometimes deputized bounty hunters that many
of their actions that have been documented by, covered
by news and lay people alike are violating many local laws.
Uh, and, and as such, once we acknowledge that we need
to demand that our local laws be enforced,
local law enforcement is not helpless
to enforce local laws.
It is not an interference
with federal action when federal agents, whomever they be,
whether it's the president of the United States,
United States Senator, a Congress person,
or a, a federal law enforcement,
so-called agent violating local laws.
So I'm glad to see these resolutions be, be, uh,
be proposed, especially the one on child endangerment.
'cause again, there are multiple cases
of children being left alone on the street
with no effort being made to contact social services
after their, their parents are, are, are disappeared.
That is something that can be taken action upon by,
by prosecutors and by local police.
Chicago is not in the lead here.
Mainline folks, even white prosecutors out of Philadelphia
have promised that if lo, if,
if federal agents violate local laws,
they'll be put in front of local juries.
Portland police officers this past weekend were documented
telling ice agents, you cannot run
through this crowd as you're planning to.
I will arrest you. Chicago is not in the lead here,
although the, those proposing,
these resolutions are trying to catch up.
And, and we certainly, we certainly,
uh, um, approve of that.
And, um, and hope that this, this passes.
Um, it is good
to call upon United States Congress
and especially our Attorney General here to look into
many documented matters, violations of state law.
We, as, as a lay person would, would argue.
Um, and this is low hanging fruit
because what these resolutions call
for certainly needs to be done.
But I would argue outside of what's in the text of here,
Chicago police with their increased budget year
after, are certainly not helpless to investigate
possible violations of local laws.
And so this resolutions presents some real low hanging
fruit, some real easy asks that you all as
and city Council can do with your power
and can demand of the executive of law enforcement,
um, here as well.
So, again, for Alia ELA from Pilson Defense
and Access, we stand here in support
of all three proposed resolutions.
And, and we thank you for your time.
Thank you very much. Our next
speaker is TTA Thomas.
I just wanna address a few things
before I start what I wrote.
Um, I live my formidable high school years in Pilsen.
And I'm Boricua. And I know when I grew up, I was, oh,
you can't be Boricua 'cause you're too black.
And I know when I lived in Pilsen,
I was the black family in Pilsen.
So I don't wanna hear all that black and brown stuff
because I know how it is to live in Chicago,
to be a boa in Chicago.
So, Jesse, you can cut it out.
A few years ago, you couldn't even call.
If somebody called you Mexican, you'll be offended.
So I want we can stop you,
Record your comments to the chair.
Thank you.
It doesn't matter. We are gonna tell the
truth and shame the devil.
Y'all, y'all trying this black and brown stuff
and y'all don't even respect somebody when they let you know
they're from 12 to Puerto Rico.
I don't look like I'm from Alto, but my family is Taino.
Let me tell you that. Okay?
So we're gonna stop this black
and brown stuff during the George Floyd riots.
You couldn't go to Pilsen, you couldn't go
to Little Village if you was black.
'cause you'll get the Latin Kings and the two sixes come
and say, say, what's up?
Come what's good then what's good? Yeah, I know.
'cause I'm from over there. I went to Juarez.
Don't play with me. Don't play
with me when we talk about unity.
'cause only black people live is on the other side.
On 18th Street, it was an anomaly for my family
to be living over there and be as black
as we in Brown as we are.
Okay, so let's, let's, let's cut it out.
Let's cut it out with this immigration stuff right now.
Because the, the immigrants aren't in y'all neighborhoods.
They're in the black neighborhoods.
That's, they're in the black neighborhoods.
They were flooded into the black neighborhoods.
Honestly, because you have the kings telling them,
you better not come to my neighborhood, getting beat up
by kings getting beat up by two sixes and counts.
So stop all this sitting here
and just unity stuff when it's not real.
It's, it's united because they're not in your neighborhood.
They can go to the black neighborhood
and be there, but they bet not.
Step in Pilsen little village. Humble park. Cut it out.
Let's cut it out. That's, that's beyond me.
What y'all doing in here? And then you wanna talk about the
endangerment of children, sir.
Endangerment of children.
The Obama administration has over 400,000
children missing right now.
He had the mass biggest mass deportation.
The Democratic, uh, president had the biggest
and the greatest mass deportation in the history of America,
in the history of America.
So we're not gonna talk about, oh, we got kids missing.
Trump is finding kids right now that were,
that were wrong here.
Let off to, uh, people that had, that's not a lie.
I went to the CIS conference. The people.
That's Gretchen Asylum. There's asylum.
It can be Gretchen if you do it the right way.
You don't come to America illegal.
You don't go to any country.
Illegal, I can tell you never used
your password to go anywhere.
'cause you would know. You cannot go without proper
documentation to any country.
Any country. And I know that I've been there
multiple countries, Ghana, France, um, Mexico.
Please, I've never been able to.
Please direct your comments to the chair. Thank you.
Thank you for your comments. Next person, uh,
is next speaker is Jessica Jackson.
I have to agree with that young lady right there
with the white jacket that said that
what she's witnessing right now in America is a shame.
I agree with you as a black person who got generations
and generations of people over here, I agree with you.
It is a shame to watch.
Uh, pseudo,
Please direct Counter counterfeit.
I'm talking a pseudo counterfeit protest.
Go on in the streets of America.
See, I'm looking for the real protests.
I'm looking for some Billy clubs.
I'm looking for some water hoses.
I'm looking for some German shepherds being stitch, uh,
on people, sick on people.
That's what I'm looking for.
That's what American protests look like.
What you all doing is a clown show.
And then you sit here and you laugh, look the other way
and want somebody to have compassion on
what you all are doing.
Your protest is boring because it don't have no soul to it.
It has no meaning to it.
For him to sit here and be laughing, for you
to have quote the Constitution
and what constitutional rights are, it just goes to show
how uneducated you all are in American history.
It goes to show that the only thing that you know
to do is come to America and fe on the resources.
You have no idea what you all are talking about.
You want us to feel sorry
for people being took away from their kids and all that.
We already been there, done that.
Who felt sorry for our families being separated?
Clearly y'all don't.
'cause you don't even respect us right now today.
But you want our heart to bleed
and go pit a paddle for this, for y'all to be on sword
that ain't even yours.
Then you gonna sit up here
and try to manipulate this by finding some knucklehead,
weak black people who will sit up here
and make like they're coming for us, they're coming for us.
They're coming for black people next.
They're coming for black people Next when, first
of all, you know that ain't true.
But if you believe it, take a look at this. Immigrants.
Take a look at, at black people.
If Trump or the troops
or the National Guard is coming
for black people, notice this.
We ain't running, we ain't running.
We ain't running to Puerto Rico and Mexico
and they're talking about let us in the troops after us.
The truth. No, we standing right here
and we facing our government
and we doing what we need to do
for the United States government right here, right now.
Something that y'all could never do.
Look at that knucklehead you telling us
that I got to address you.
But she can do stuff like that.
That's why y'all not getting them seats back.
You're not getting them back.
All the money that you use for your illegals,
you better run back to your homes, countries with it.
'cause you're not getting them seats back.
You're really not. So go get a real
protest and a real cause.
'cause Michael Rodriguez,
Thank you, uh, for the record.
Uh, Alder Manhattan is here for quorum or attendance.
Uh, next speaker is, uh, Elena Crowley.
That's what it is. That's what it is.
Elena Crowley. Onto the next,
uh, next speaker is, uh,
is that Jackie Sample?
Hello, uh, I'm a pro se litigant with the disability
and cases filed within the Cook County Courthouse.
For more than six months,
I've been denied reasonable accommodations under the
Americans With Disability Act.
My request for accommodations has been
disregarded far too long.
Title two of the A DA 42 USC 1 21 32
mandates that courts
as a public entities provide reasonable modifications
to ensure individuals
with disabilities have meaningful access
to judicial proceedings.
The Supreme Court confirmed in Texas V Lane,
this applies to state courts.
Also, due to my disability,
I cannot participate effectively
without legal representation.
Appointment of counsel is a required accommodation
that allows me to exercise my constitutional statutory
rights and access to the court's equality.
Um, in fact, all of my cases in Cook County exist
because violations
of my due process rights under the 14th Amendment,
judicial misconduct, financial fraud,
and Conspiracy against rights involving
multiple JU judges in due DuPage County Courthouse
in violation of 2 42 USC 1983,
which prohibits the deprivation
of constitutional rights under color of law.
18 USC 2 2 41 Conspiracy Against Rights.
I'm a survivor of ongoing domestic violence
facilitated by the court.
As an American citizen, I am unable
to receive legal representation while federal crimes are
being committed against me, including domestic violence,
financial fraud, intimidation, conspiracy against rights,
18 USC 2 41.
Meanwhile, illegal migrants continue
to receive legal representation, support, assistance,
advocacy from every state and, um, uh, state
and, um, state and city official sitting here.
We as the American people,
we would also like the support that they're getting.
We would like advocacy.
We would like legal help,
just like they're getting legal help.
I respectfully request an investigation into multiple
requests for a DA accommodations as well
as allegations against criminal enterprise at the head
of the four DuPage County Judges, which has extended
to the US Northern District, Eastern Division Federal Court.
In conclusion, as a federal
and state, um, official receiving this disclosure,
disclosure, you have a legal
and ethical obligation under whistleblower protections
and standards of ethical conduct to report known violations
of law, corruption, fraud, and abuse of authority.
Thank you.
Thank you very much. Uh, the next speaker.
Oh, before that, uh, for the record,
we have Alderman Talia Farro here with us, as well
as Alderwoman Rodriguez Sanchez.
Uh, next speaker is, uh, Nicholas Hernandez.
Good afternoon. Thank you very much for this platform.
I'm here to represent my neighborhood, Humbold Park.
I am also here to represent my city.
I am really sick
and tired of these federal goons coming into our city,
invading our city, gassing our kids in the middle
of the streets, cuffing our elected officials,
running rough shot really throughout through our city.
These resolutions are good. I appreciate them.
I'm actually waiting to see when our elected officials,
and this also goes for the governor, when they're going
to actually have state police, city police arrest
ice agents, when they're basically gassing us in the
streets, they're zip tying kids.
They basically gas
foot Funston Elementary right by my house.
And if anyone over here saying that they're lying, well,
hey, I have neighbors that come to me asking me
how I can get them connected to the appropriate ICER agent.
I actually feel that at this point, we need our government,
our local government to step up to protect Chicagoans.
The Attorney General does have a program
for victims of crime.
If I were to witness a crime, if I were
to witness someone in a mask, tackling a grandmother,
tackling a father or an uncle, how do I report
that we're being told to carry our passports,
a copy of our passports?
Why would I do that? I forgot my ID when I walked over here.
If I were to carry a copy of my ID
and someone has a mask on, they rip it in front of my face.
How do I even hold 'em accountable?
It, it's very difficult to become a citizen here in this
country for anybody to say, oh, it's very easy.
No, it's not. It's not.
F**k Donald Trump. Thank you.
Thank you for your comments. Uh,
next speaker Dennis White,
Uh, if everybody take a look at this flag,
the United States flag.
I was a national Garth man.
Now I wanna ask Saint Lopez,
Andre Vasque, Jessica Fuente and the, and him.
Have anybody wore the uniform? Got it.
Did they ever protect the constitution of the United States?
Did anybody say I somn, I solemnly swear by they name
that I pro sworn to protect
and defend the constitution, both foreign and domestic.
The answer is no.
Because the reason why you all didn't do it,
because you want the legal to have more due process
than the natural citizen that was born here, raised here.
Excuse me, Altman Vasquez. I'm talking to you now.
You see how I got your attention by me raising my voice?
Yep. Okay, so pay attention what's in hand right here.
And then when Alderman, uh, Jessica Fuentes got
detained and handcuffed, she wanted
to sue ice, that's not going to happen.
You're not gonna win that case against
the federal government.
And you all talk about due processes
for the illegal alien due processes for the illegal alien.
They break more laws here than what we can.
And then you all put,
you all don't want the sanctuary city ordinance
lift lifted up because it will mess up your pocket.
Whoever paid you Ralph hand,
because I know our tax dollar don't pay you all to do this.
You sworn to protect the city of Chicago, you sworn
to protect the citizen of Chicago.
We did not vote for this. We don't want this.
We don't need this. We getting too old for this.
Byron St. Lopez say that Donald Trump
is, is a racist, but the biggest racist is him.
He's the biggest racist, followed by Andre Vasquez,
then Jessica Fuentes,
and this guy right here, the third place.
And guess what? They over here go to the protests trying
to block ice, trying to stop them from doing
what we voted for.
They didn't vote for this.
We voted to get these illegals out of our city,
our state, our country.
If you wanted him, if you wanted them in, then tell them
to do it the right way because I'm sick
and tired of them breaking the laws.
And then you want us to obey the laws
and then y'all pass these unnecessary ordinance so
the time is kicked is going to tick.
If they get arrested, detained
and deported, then that's good
because Trump gonna make not only America great.
They going. He gonna make deportation great again.
Glad I got to hear you. Wasn't great to begin with.
Next person up. Uh, uh, Alessia Garko, please.
Uh, it's Alessia Ko.
Okay, guess we are done. Thank you all so much.
Alright,
uh, you got the word.
Okay. Uh, thank you to all of our speakers today.
Well, some of our speakers today, uh, I would like to note
that this committee received zero written public comment.
Uh, there being no more speakers.
Uh, the public comment period is concluded.
I apologize everyone had to endure through it.
Uh, the first item on the agenda
before our committee is to approve, uh,
the September, 2025 Rule 45 report.
Can I have a motion to approve?
So moved Alder person, uh, Rodriguez.
So moves here are no objections.
So ordered the second
through fourth items on the agenda speak
largely to similar issues.
So we are going to hear statements from the subject matter
experts hear brief remarks from the chief sponsors
of each resolution, and then move
to pass each resolution in succession.
I will now read the summary of each resolution.
The second item on the agenda is R 2 0 2 5 dash
0 0 1 9 9 6 1.
A resolution I have sponsored calling on the Illinois
Congressional delegation to investigate every instance
of potential misconduct by the United States Department
of Homeland Security and other deputized
agents operating in Chicago.
The third item is R 2 0 2 5 dash 0 0 1 9 9 5 2.
A condemnation of practices
by federal immigration enforcement agents
that endanger children urging resident reporting
of immigration enforcement misconduct, and calls for federal
and state action regarding ice misconduct.
The fourth and final item on the agenda is R 2 0 2 5 dash
0 0 1 9 180 1.
A resolution sponsored by Alder person Rodriguez, calling
for support of immigrant communities, racial justice
and constitutional freedoms
and opposition of military presence in Chicago.
I thank you all for being here
with us at this committee hearing.
Uh, we find ourselves in
unprecedented and challenging times.
Beautiful. You would've talked to me a couple months ago.
I said I would've said fascism at our is at our door.
Fascism is, here we are watching a federal government
weaponizing itself against its own people.
We are watching unidentified agents with masks on
kidnapping people off the street, putting 'em in vehicles,
taking 'em away, tear gassing the public, tear,
gassing police officers, putting everyone's lives in danger
under the false narrative of public safety in a city
where the safety was increasing.
We are watching a president slash dictator slash
authoritarian forcibly occupying a city in
Chicago because of ideological difference, seeking
to create chaos and disorder to record it, televise it,
and use that narrative to justify further escalation.
We saw it just occur yesterday.
We've seen it happen for the past number of weeks, months.
You're watching city council members whose jobs are
typically tree trims
and potholes having to follow agents to let people know
when ISPO is showing up in different neighborhoods.
That is not the job of city council members,
but it's the moment we find ourselves.
Now, I could go on,
but I'm just gonna go through point by point.
A lot of things that we have seen
and why these resolutions are important
and why we need more than resolutions.
But it's a start. It is a body of government for the record,
for posterity in history, speaking out against
what we clearly all see as fascism.
So over the past month, ICE has repeatedly
and unlawfully detained people without
warrants or probable cause.
22 of these cases have already been
deemed illegal by a judge.
Thanks to the swift work of the A CLU
and National Immigration Justice Center,
they have raided an apartment building in South Shore
with helicopters, flash banks,
and 300 masked agents who broke down doors
detained nearly every resident, including children
and babies, put them in zip ties
and separated them by race into vans for hours
before ultimately arresting 37, including four children.
That included citizens, that included black people,
that included brown people, that included everyone in
that building with no warning.
We've seen them target journalists in one case,
detaining a journalist for covering a protest
and another shooting a journalist
with a pepper ball while the journalist was surveying
Broadview during a time when there were no active protests
violently assaulting a WGN employee while she was on her way
to work, forcing her to the ground, handcuffing her,
and pulling down her pants, tear gassing neighborhoods
of peaceful protestors in both the 26th
Ward and the 10th ward.
In one of those cases, there was a 2-year-old present when
they tossed a tear gas canister onto a busy street
with no warning, handcuffed and detained.
Our colleague, an elected official alder person,
Jesse Fuentes, for calmly questioning them about why they
were detaining a man in a hospital
and asking if they had a warrant to do so merely for asking
what constitutional right did they have to move forward.
They shot a rapid responder in Brighton Park neighborhood.
They shot a priest with a pepper, uh, pate.
They shot and killed Rio Viegas Gonzalez.
A single father of two had done nothing wrong apart from
several decades old traffic violations
after he dropped his kids off from school.
They then lied and said, said that Verio ran a car.
Somebody ran somebody over only to show video footage later
of this person who quote unquote was attacked,
saying it was nothing.
Major ICE has a record of dishonesty about their actions.
They claimed a rapid response rammed a border patrol vehicle
before they shot her in self-defense.
A claim that her attorney has claimed is, has claimed,
is contradicted by body camera footage.
They claim they're going after the worst of the worst.
They are the worst of the worst.
While their own data shows
that the largest spike in detentions by far are people
with no criminal records whatsoever.
We heard comment before about immigrants, uh,
break more laws that is emphatically false.
Immigrants are less likely to commit crime
and way more likely to become victims of crime.
That's the reality we're dealing with in this country.
The federal government under Donald Trump has shown no
intention of holding ice
and DHS accountable for their actions.
It is up to us as local governments to use every tool we can
to hold them accountable.
This week's meeting is one effort to do just that.
We will hear from Giovanni Aya, migrant worker organizer
with Latino Union of Chicago, uh, Von Bryant,
executive Director of the Metropolitan Peace Initiatives,
and Ahmed Rahab, executive Director of Care Chicago.
I thank you all and I charge you all
to do everything possible to build with your neighbors.
In the moment we find ourselves in
it is clear when the federal government is doing
what it is doing, it will take everyone in a democracy
to organize and maintain it
and sustain our neighbors through it.
This is not just a spectator sport.
We need people getting involved
and we have people getting involved.
And I wanna thank every neighbor in the city of Chicago,
every Chicagoan
that's standing shoulder to shoulder in this moment.
Now we'll begin. Thank you again.
Uh, our first speaker will be Giovanni Aya,
migrant worker organizer with Latino Union
of Chicago. Giovanni.
Thank you. Uh, again, my name is Giovanni Sal.
I am the migrant worker organizer here at
Latino Union of Chicago.
Um, it has been 37 days straight of day labor,
street food vendors and other vulnerable folks being
targeted through operation with waits under the pretense
of targeting the worst of the worst.
We have instead seen indiscriminate
and vi targeting of community members in black
and brown communities across all of Chicago.
I'm September 16 at the 87th Street Home Depot.
Multiple agents and vehicles fly the entrance
and the exits of this recognized hiring corner.
Upon arriving agents ran
and detained as many daily route
as they could without due process,
just based on the work they did, the languages they spoke,
and the location where they looked for work.
Theses were targeted maliciously on September 16th,
the 17th, the 25th, the 26th, the 27th,
and October 1st, eighth, the ninth, the the 12th.
We've continued to see this targeted violence by ICE
and Bovino CBP who visit these corners
because to them they see these spaces as the easiest
to fill their arrest quota.
On September 25th, CBP
and their poster boy Gregory Bovino arrived at the 47th
and Western Home Depot early in the morning, followed
by a camera crew with an eagerness
of making a spectacle of their violence.
They targeted our work neighbors.
As one agent was chasing a day labor,
the agent had fallen short of detaining them
and quickly shifted focus to an easier target.
The CBP agent arrested Laura,
a community known Tamali vendor on 47th, did not provide her
with arrest warrant, didn't ask questions
to create their probable cause for an arrest.
They only looked at her and designated her
as a criminal based on the language she spoke,
the way she looked and the work that she was doing.
This is to say that is has come into our state
to inflict violence in our communities
and not respect our constitutional rights.
And that's not right. The impact
of detention does not only fall on the individual
as firsthand impacts on the community members responding
to support the individuals being detained
and whose life is being disrupted.
The family of the individuals,
the communities in which they belong,
the individuals responding witness a life kidnapping.
The traumatic impact of that visual only leads many
to question the humanity of the civil servants
who are responsible for keeping our community safe.
The impact it has on individuals being detained,
the inability to let your loved ones know you're being taken
and leaving those who depend on you up in the air.
It is not a good feeling having to map out in your head
how your family will have to survive with the main form
of income gone.
It is not a good feeling having to rack your brain,
figuring out how you are going to pay the rent, pay
for groceries or other daily necessities when you're already
having to deal with the detention of a family member.
These emotions and experiences are only made worse
by the fact that many are only able
to stay cooped up in their homes, isolated from community
and from the ability to live freely
and confidently, we have to start thinking of creative ways
of protecting our communities.
Now, Latino Union has been working closely
with existing rapid response networks across all Chicago
and Cook County motivating community members
to adopt their local hiring corner.
However, we know that isn't enough.
On September 12th, William Alberto Jimenez was enjoying a
day off with his wife and headed to the barbershop
as he stepped out of his vehicle.
Two ice agents finally took him without presenting a warrant
for almost 24 hours.
William's wife, our team, his lawyers, friends
and family could not reach him or
nor where he was being kept.
Our executive director, Miguel Avelo Rivera
and our partners at the Raise the Floor Alliance led a co,
uh, collaborative effort
with our congressional representative de Ramirez
and Chu Garcia to Man Ice released the information
of his whereabouts and allow him to speak
with his wife and lawyer.
It's been 33 days since William was unjustly taken from our
community, and we will not rest until he's free.
We believe his detainment was retaliation in part
because he bravely decided to take a stand against injustice
perpetrated against him
and other dealers at the hands of Home Depot,
private security and off-duty police officers.
Through these efforts, wheeling has become an advocate
for the security and safety our communities.
He spoke of safe hiring sites, a physical structure
where workers like himself can safely be connected
to responsible employees
and wraparound resources and education.
We lead. The city must consider material steps such
as creating safe hiring site pilot to, uh,
protect its immigrant and working people.
The Latino Union of Chicago
and the Raise of Floor Alliance encourage the mayor
and the members of City Council to listen
and make strides in the right direction.
Safe hiring sites can help interrupt the violence targeting
and render support to our neighbors who cannot afford
to stay inside most,
but must go out to work and make a living.
I'm a proud, I'm proud of Chicago
because we've shown to the world that so
what solidarity looks like, what come resistance is capable
of, and what government responsive
to people's needs can accomplish.
Now, we want to do more than resist.
We must show the world what's possible when we build
a city for the many.
Let's make safe hiring insights a reality
for our communities, our working families,
and everyone that comes here to build a better life.
Let's build a city where everyone can thrive.
Thank you for your time and
willingness to hear my testimony.
Thank you very much, Giovanni. Uh, next thank you.
Next we will hear from Vaughn Bryant, executive Director
of the Metropolitan Peace Initiatives.
Yeah, thank you for having me.
Um, first I want to, uh, just define
what community Violence intervention is.
Uh, community Violence Intervention is an evidence-informed
public health approach offering a range of services
that proactively engages individuals
with the highest likelihood
of being involved in gun violence.
So what distinguishes CVI from sort
of other violence prevention efforts, I would say is,
is the people that we're trying to engage.
Those people are, again, highly probable
to be involved in gun violence,
potentially have been victims of gun violence in the past,
involved with a street organization
or their family members being
involved in a street organization.
Uh, we based on sort of our street intelligence, know
that they're influencing gun
violence in their neighborhoods.
Secondary things could be, you know, alcohol abuse
or like our age limit is between 18
and 49 people who are potentially homeless.
70% of the people that we work with are, uh,
don't have a GED and have never had a formal job.
So back in 2017, metropolitan was asked to serve
as convener of what is now called Communities Partner
for Peace is a coalition today
that is 15 organizations working across 28
communities in the city of Chicago.
All of the organizations provide street outreach
case management, our place-based strategy called Light the
Night, where we have events in local neighborhoods three
nights a week in the summertime,
once a month, fall, winter, spring.
And then they provide victim services as well.
We convene them. Um,
and then we also provide things like behavioral health
services across the network, uh, uh, uh, civil legal aid.
We provide capacity building, um, training
and technical assistance.
We've established what we call the Metropolitan Peace
Academy, where we train all of those outreach workers,
case managers and victim advocates.
So there's a standard of practice
across the city of Chicago.
Uh, we cross train with, uh, hospitals like, um, UCM,
um, Sinai.
Uh, we're about to start working with Stroger so
that the folks who work in our trauma centers can work, uh,
hand in hand with our outreach workers just in case we have
people that, you know, obviously get shot
and we need to, you know, work on retaliations
and make sure that we're serving those families as well.
So the, the over time, I would say, I think people kind of,
that are from Chicago understand the history of, you know,
violence, inter, inter interruption work, uh, is
what they called it back in the day.
You know, police relationships with, with
that work wasn't necessarily the best.
People had one foot in one foot out.
Since we've been involved, we moved the, the,
the minimum salary from 28,000 to 36,000 when we started.
Today, the minimum salary is 45,000.
So it's a full-time job with benefits, uh,
life insurance and the like.
So people are far less likely to, to, uh, relapse
because, you know, this is a full-time job
that we've professionalized over the, the course of time.
And when we built our Metropolitan Peace Academy,
we engaged CPD to be a part of our law enforcement module.
Um, and that led to a, a codified professional understanding
with law enforcement where we have rules of the world of,
you know, how our work compliments their work.
We believe that CVI only works with law enforcement
and all of the other, uh, prevention efforts that, uh,
are out there that need to be done.
Um, the other thing I would say is that, um,
you know, it's, it's been working to, to an extent.
So when we first got started, we saw, you know,
1% every month, uh, for the first four years.
I think COVID, uh, you know, obviously hurt us.
Uh, but I will say during the COVID time,
the CP four P communities have far less escalation in
homicides than other neighborhoods that did not have it.
And if you look at the numbers today,
we typically are outpacing the city by one
or 2% percentage points, both in, uh, fatal
and non-fatal shootings.
And so, you know, we don't think that we're the,
the main reason, but we are part of the reason.
And we think that the civilian infrastructure
for public safety that we've established over the years is
contributing to, uh, a historic summer
that we've had the best summer since the sixties
and we're on track hopefully, uh,
to have under 400 homicides
for the first time since the sixties as well.
Um, I will stop there and, um, pass.
Thank you very much, Mr. Bryant.
Uh, our next, uh, speaker will be, uh, next up. Sorry.
Uh, I'm Ed Raha, executive Director of Care Chicago.
Thank you very much Mr. Chairman.
Uh, the esteemed members of the council for having me here,
uh, this afternoon.
Now I wanna speak clearly in support
of all three resolutions,
but I will focus on the resolution of condemnation
of practices by federal immigration enforcement agents
that endanger children
and urging resident reporting
of immigration enforcement misconduct
and calling for federal and state action
regarding ice misconduct.
As you know, my name is Ahmed Rahab
and I want to talk about two
organizations I'm affiliated with.
You may know me as the executive director on the Council
of the Council on American Islamic Relations,
which is an organization that stands for Civil Rights
and Human Rights, not just of Muslims, but of all people.
But also recently we created an organization called the
Chicago United Families Coalition that I'm a co-founder of.
And that entity was created
to stand up in the moment against the fascist threats
to our families all over the United States,
focusing on Chicago, stand up
with immigrant families against forced disappearances
because that is what we are witnessing right now,
forced disappearances.
I wanna read to you a pledge on our website, cu UFC us.
Though my family may be safe, maybe
as citizens, it's not guaranteed.
That's a maybe by the way, I pledge to not sit idly
by while yours is terrorized
by masked men purporting to act in my name.
We will not look away when migrants, refugees,
and as asylums and others are hoarded off at gunpoint
and persecuted in this great nation,
echoing the terrors they sought refugee from.
That is what this entity is about.
And I wanna read to you a quote
that sounds like it was from yesterday, but it isn't.
The quote starts terrible things are happening outside.
Poor, helpless. People are being dragged out of their homes.
Families are torn apart. Men, women
and children are separated.
Children come home from school to find
that their parents have disappeared.
That is a quote from Anne Frank in 1943,
back when the Nazis were attacking Jewish communities
and other minorities in the lands of the invaded, conquered,
and controlled history is repeating itself in this,
in this case, it's the American government turning inwards
against its own people,
people on its soil, citizens or non-citizens.
And you know, those who know me know I'm a straight shooter,
so I'm gonna, you know, talk straight from the
heart and from the mind.
The fact of the matter is, in my estimation,
what we are seeing is not about the law.
It is not about safety. It isn't about justice.
It's about the vindictiveness in vengeance of
almanac in the White House who is coming
after these parts of America
that voted against him, as simple as that.
Portland, la Chicago, so-called Democratic cities.
And it's his punitive measures to punish these Americans
that dared not stand up
and give him their vote of allegiance as a new king.
The new fascist, the new dictator in town.
That's, that's what this is about.
Sending an army of underqualified in the r undertrained in
the r overzealous in the r deputized bounty hunters.
And they are into our streets
to pick up suspicious looking brown people is not an
immigration policy for those
who are beating their chest about the law and order.
That's not it. That's right.
It's not effective, it's not proven to work.
It doesn't do a thing other than scare
and fearmonger in order to give more power to the individual
that wants to reign supreme against all Americans will.
And and that's why as care of Chicago, by the way,
we stood up against the genocide in Gaza.
That's why we stand up against this. It's all related.
It's about human rights, about human dignity,
and it's about not allowing those who are pandering
to big money, powered by big money against the people
and their interest, regardless of your color religion,
to not control
and gaslight us into submission and subservience.
They know that this is what this is about.
It's a very expensive
and destructive so-called solution
that is not even a solution to the problem.
They're not interested in solutions or fixing anything.
Only performative, tough guy optics designed to instill fear
and ek subservience, which is all you get
for your tax dollars when ruled over
by egotistical charlatans.
No child in Chicago should ever experience fear trauma
or family separation
because of federal immigration enforcement, regardless
of immigration status, race or national origin.
That's just a human right. That's basic morality.
That is moral, consistency, clarity, and courage.
And that's what we're asking for.
And that's what you are representing in putting forth
these three resolutions.
And we support them very strongly.
When children are left behind, that's not law
and order, that's child endangerment.
No adult in their right mind would stand for this regardless
of color, regardless of status
in our instinct, human instinct.
As adults, we are guardians
and caretakers of these innocent young souls.
And right now in this very city, in 2025,
in the great United States of America, in this first world
parameter, we have children
who are hanging out in sidewalks, not knowing
where their parents are because they've been whisked off
into the back of trucks by mass men who are unidentified.
My friends, let me see it as clearly as I can. This flag.
I respect my allegiances to this flag.
But you know what, as an American, I understand
that this flag represents
and represented great ideals
that are the founding ideals of this nation.
But also at the same time, certain cultural ills
that permitted the founding generation while bringing forth
great ideals and great promise to extinguish
and exterminate those who came
before them in a genocide, to enslave those to be brought
with them and
to demonize everybody else who came after them.
And in standing for this flag, I stand for
what is right about this flag, regardless of
who put it forth white, black, white, Christian, Muslim,
Latino, whatever, and against every ill
that the culture has brought back in history
or today contemporaneously.
And that is what this moment is about.
It's the same moment that we are self-correcting
as we have done in the past with the Civil War,
with the Emancipation Proclamation,
with the Civil Rights Act.
And it continues today.
We will not allow these human beings to be defiled
and demonized into less than being human
and have these children be endangered and wished away,
or the parents wished away
as if we're living in Nazi times, not on our watch.
We fully support this resolution.
We thank you for putting it forth. Thank you very much.
Having heard from our three, uh, speakers that are guests,
uh, we'll open it up for questions
from any of the committee members.
Uh, and before going to the vote, allow the sponsors
to speak on their, uh, individual items.
So any of the members, if you have, uh, questions.
Sounds like everybody's ready to vote.
Okay, I think you guys answered a lot
of questions and I appreciate that.
Uh, we'll hear from Alder person Rodriguez about his,
uh, resolution.
Sure. Thank you. Um, at the appropriate moment, I'll move
to accept the substitute that's been passed out as well to,
uh, R 2 0 2 5 dash 0 1 9 180 1.
Uh, whenever you're ready for that Mr. Chair.
Um, but thank you so much for, um,
allowing this conversation to happen.
Chair, thank you to our three speakers, uh,
you three our leaders in our community.
Um, I just really quickly wanted to ask a question
and then make my statement if that's okay of absolutely.
Uh, Mr. Bryan who spoke eloquently, very eloquently about,
um, the violence prevention efforts here in our great city.
Could you elaborate as to the depth
of the drops in violence here in the city
of Chicago happening
before President Trump came into the White House
and your thoughts on a military presence here in our
streets of the city of Chicago?
Yes. So for the last, uh, three years
before 2025, we've had double digit declines, uh,
in homicides in the city of Chicago.
And this year, you know, obviously we all know
that we're clo approximately 30%, uh,
fewer homicides in the city.
I think the, it's due to the coordination
that is happening across the city
and all levels of our public safety efforts.
And so, you know, I guess in our minds,
if the federal government was gonna come
and intervene, they should do it within court in
coordination with the efforts that we're already making.
They didn't ask any questions, they just came.
And, and in my mind, they're disrupting the flow of
what we have going on now and, and causing more harm
and creating anxiety in our streets.
And I mean,
before they came, we weren't seeing, you know, all
of the commotion that we're seeing today.
And so if it's really about, you know, improving the lives
of the people in the city of Chicago,
then you're gonna engage us in the solutions the that,
that you're thinking about and at least inform yourself on
the things that we have going on right now.
This dates back for us at least to April of 2025.
When our DOJ grant was cut.
We lost $6.2 million from the federal government.
We were using that money to
incubate small local organizations
that were getting engaged in the
community violence intervention space.
And we were also using it to train our outreach workers,
both professionally, but also offering additional supports
like financial literacy, health and wellness supports, uh,
and the like so that we can continue
to establish community violence intervention as a,
a permanent fixture in the public safety ecosystem.
And we need a federal partner in order to do that.
Not a federal partner that's gonna kind of go rogue
and do their own thing, uh, in our city.
Thank you so much Mr. Bryan.
Thank you for being here and, um, to the, uh, resolution.
Um, I, along with Alder woman, uh, Gutierrez
of the 14th War, submitted this resolution
affirming Chicago's commitment to immigrant communities,
racial justice and constitutional freedoms,
and rejecting authoritarian military
occupation on our streets.
Let me be clear. The idea of using military force
against the people of Chicago is not just dangerous.
It is fundamentally un-American.
The constitution, our nation's find founding document
prohibits the use of military force
for civilian law enforcement.
That's not a technicality,
it's a cornerstone of our democracy.
The threat by President Trump to quote,
straighten out our city with military occupation
was not about safety.
It was about power.
It was an attempt to intimidate, to criminalize,
and to divide us.
This resolution makes clear we will not be governed by fear.
We will not tolerate authoritarianism in any form.
Chicago is not a war zone.
It is a vibrant, diverse
and resilient city built by native inhabitants,
by those brought to this country, forcibly
and also built by immigrants.
Chicago is a city sustained by working families
and protected by the rule of law, not
by soldiers in combat boots.
Let's be honest about what militarization really does.
It does not resolve violence.
It escalates it, it doesn't build trust,
it erodes trust and it doesn't promote peace.
It undermines the very community relationships
that are proven to make our neighborhoods safer.
Over the past year alone,
Chicago has seen a more than 30% drop in homicides.
That's twice the national average as Mr. Bryant
so eloquently put, that wasn't achieved
through federal troops.
It was achieved through community partnerships,
public investment, and better policing.
Why would we throw away that progress?
Now, this resolution also reaffirms our identity
as a welcoming city.
A place where immigrants, regardless of
where they come from, can live without fear
of being targeted or deported for who they are.
We know the truth. Immigrants are our
neighbors, our coworkers.
They are our classmates,
and often they are our family members.
They commit fewer crimes on average than US-born citizens,
yet continue to be scapegoated for political gain.
This resolution defends our right to self-governance.
It defends the 10th Amendment to the US Constitution
that reads, and I quote, any powers not specifically given
to the federal government, nor withheld from the states,
are reserved to those respective states.
This resolution defends our city's right
to say we will not be pawns to a political game
and we will not allow Chicago's parades, festivals,
or neighborhoods to become stages for military intimidation.
To militarize our city is to betray its spirit,
to protect Chicago's, to invest in jobs, education,
mental healthcare, affordable housing,
and community safety, not soldiers
with rifles on our streets.
So today I urge every member of this committee to yes,
on this resolution
and the two complimentary resolutions, not just
as a statement of policy, but as a statement of our values.
Because what's at stake here is not just one moment
of political overreach.
What's at stake is the future of our democracy and whether
or not we will continue to be a city
that protects the rights, the dignity,
and the humanity of all people. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Um,
before I go to, uh, alderman Scho Lopez
to speak on his item,
I just wanna have one question to each of you.
Um, one, very grateful for you all for the work that you do,
uh, and for the opportunity to partner with you all.
But for folks who are potentially watching this hearing,
who may not know how to contact you
or what services they might be in need of,
if you guys wanted to take some time to,
to just put out information for people,
because I know
what I've seen is every neighbor at attention trying
to figure out where to take that energy,
where they can help, where they can support.
And so if you all can share
and we'll go in order of everyone that spoke.
So Giovanni, if you'd like to share first
where folks can find you, um, please do.
Yeah, the easiest way of contacting us
and also becoming part of
what our effort is adopting a corner
is going on our Instagram page, uh, Latino Union Chicago.
And that's the easiest way to get plugged
Into the work that we're doing.
Thank you very much, Mr. Bryant. Yes.
Metropolitan peace initiatives.org. Thank you. Super quick.
Thanks. Uh, uh, Mr Rahab
Care chicago.org.
That's CAIR Chicago one word.org. Org.
And then C ufc.us is the website
for the Chicago United Families Coalition.
Thank you very much. Uh, other person Lopez.
Thank you Chairman Vasquez.
And thank you to all the panelists and everybody.
Who's, um, who's come today in front of this committee, um,
as a representative of a immigrant community, a hardworking
community in the southwest side of the city, LA Vita Pilsen
that have been drastically affected
by the irresponsible actions of the federal government.
It is important that today, more than ever,
local government works together
to protect the most vulnerable, to protect every Chicagoan
and every Illinois in a time like this,
when we see neighbors being kidnapped by mask individuals,
when we see the lack of integrity
by even defying the ruling of federal judges that have
urge the federal government not to deploy force tear gas
and other weapons of war on residential areas of Chicago.
But yet, just as of yesterday, we saw,
and they, they right
after the ruling, these emboldened mask individuals taking
even with more vindictiveness
and hate on the very city's constituents,
that they should and have taken an oath
to protect and defend.
It is outrageously shameful and must be condemned.
I am particularly concerned with the situation
of our family's children who have, who have already been
barely making ends meet, but now they cannot get to work.
Now they cannot get to kids to school.
They cannot go to the hospital.
And as of this weekend, they cannot even go to the place
of worship because yes,
these mask individuals are out there waiting for them
outside places of worship.
So the use of religion to justify these atrocities
is not only outrageous, false, un shameful,
but should be also be condemned in a time like this.
I think the city of Chicago is called to action,
and the action is to codify
what a constitution already says due process.
And I heard some comments about
who has due process and who hasn't.
Every person independent of immigration status is entitled
to due process, period.
Next sentence. So
what we are seeing in our country is the literally
undermining of our constitutional rights
and just started with the immigrant community.
But we saw what happening South Shore.
These were neighbors that in the middle
of the night saw the deployment of helicopters,
mask individuals coming out of U-Haul to terrorize
and Ziploc children that were children, what, who they take
parents, black
and brown, both who were put in the middle
of the street naked.
And we yet to see a single gun
in this shameful operation.
But we do think that we should investigate the connections
of these landlords, this landlords
and this corrupt administration
that is not only disappearing people,
but the one that displaces us from our communities.
And in that, that's when we fight for our children.
'cause that's the generation that we must protect.
For way too long, we saw our city turn the back on our
children, close schools, close mental health clinics,
and a lot of work that has been described has been done
to protect their children.
And the result of that is the result of investment.
Over 34,000 children in our city were employed this summer.
That is the result, investments in housing,
in education, in safety nets.
They wanna take us back a hundred years to the times
of lynchings and the times of persecution.
And that's why this is so important.
My statement goes in line of what is needed in this moment.
When these mask individuals
and their bosses defy judge orders
and are bol to even intimidate those judges
that rule against them.
That should not be the norm. That should be disrupted.
And we're calling of every elected official
that see this injustice not to comply,
to disrupt and protect.
And that's what this ordinance, this resolution
and cha endangerment.
And I hope that may,
maybe my colleague Alder per alder person m Haworth
or, um, alderman de Scada can accept.
The substitute is a small substitute just on codification
of some minor things.
But simply we gotta protect our children.
The correlation between children that have been traumatized,
that are left without a parent
and violence is, is for everybody to see
that correlation is clear.
And that's what we must protect our children.
We see in our communities, one our
where parents have been victims of the school to prison
pipeline and not having a father at home had created a,
a community with hard conditions.
What our children cannot learn,
and now worse when children got go to school,
is an act of resistance.
Many children are going to school by themselves.
We have parents who are working six,
seven children at a time.
We see these mask individuals deploying tear gas in schools,
in hospitals, in churches.
They simply do not care about the constitution,
and they do not care about safety
and the safety of our children.
It is our duty, our responsibility, and our commitment.
So in that sense, and my question,
and to finish my statement, I think for all three, um,
panelists, when we see the defiance of these orders, the,
the, the federal judges that are ruling to protect,
to protect people from tear gas weapons, to ask them to use
judicial warrants, to ask them to u
to be identify themselves, not to wear masks, to make sure
that the ruling is also not to deploy the National Guard
because of one of the panelists have said,
there's no crisis in Chicago.
There's no war in Chicago.
There's a trend actually to make it a safer city.
But yet the defiance and the, and
and the issue of lawlessness in our streets, we see also
how workers who have actually lawsuits pending
are being targeted homes that are targeted
by the biggest landlord in South Shore in complicit,
which one we see in a time like this, how children,
and we see here many cases just yesterday in Berwin,
this very resolution when child endangerment pass in Berwin
because not too far from there,
two minors were left in a car by mask individuals
that arrested both of their parents.
So this is the moment that we fight.
So my question to you,
and I'm glad to hear just yesterday,
the governor finally saying, we will persecute anybody
with batch or not who break
or loss, especially when putting children at risk,
how you can talk about safety when you're put in children,
that act of cowardice
and lawlessness that we see in our streets must be made
by a strong local government
that protects every constituent wherever we are.
My question is in that line with these mask individuals
and their bosses, this commander Bobino
with a horrible track record in LA
with a horrible track record of terrorizing other people.
And now here with the defiance
and the intimidation to judge rules,
what can we do as a city?
What do we do on the ground? I'm glad you're here.
Building coalition, what can we do
and how can we support these organization fighting
for labor rights to make sure
that we actually talk about public safety,
and that we do not allow the undermining
or constitutional rights, freedom of speech,
and the right to coexist as we show in the city of Chicago,
we can coexist Jewish Palestinians, black, white, Asian,
all young, all of us are showing that we can coexist.
So my question in a time like this,
how we can support these efforts in organizations
and how we keep each other safe
by demanding more from a local government,
state, county, and city.
So for all of three, that's my only question,
and thank you for all your efforts.
Thank you very much. Um, uh, we have a,
I think they're gonna answer, oh, sorry, my apologies.
Yeah, no, that was a wonderful question.
And, uh, it starts with community.
Uh, it it starts with community building in
these existing neighborhoods, right?
Uh, Brighton Park, right?
Uh, elosa, um,
Logan Square, all these communities, right?
We are seeing these targeted attacks in
all hiring corners, right?
For errors and workers
who have historically been excluded from labor
protection laws, right?
Um, and we've seen that there has been a shortcoming
of certain wage theft laws, right?
Um, so there's already existing issues, right?
But it is starting now that we have the opportunity
to bring communities, existing communities with the people
who visit those corners looking for work, right?
To create solidarity, to create community, right?
Even though we're doing adopt a corner, right?
And that's vigi vigilance, right?
Being present for your neighbor, right? It's more than that.
It's creating these relationships that, that start
to devolve into something else, right?
How do we erase the barriers
that don't allow workers to organize?
It's through community, right?
It is through, um, bringing down down barriers
so they can also advocate for themselves, right?
Um, because a lot of these workers have lives,
they have professions, they're experts in something, right?
Um, and so it's through community building
that we work together to create community based solutions.
But we understand that's not enough.
We, we come together and advocate
and push for actual infra infrastructure, right?
And structural changes
that will alleviate a lot of the issues, right?
And, uh, safe hire insights is not the solution
as we've seen total in totality, right?
But it's a step in the right direction
and a step in the right direction to protect workers, right?
And protect the development workers in Chicago, right?
And not exclusively day laborers. It's for all workers.
Yeah. Thank you. And I, I really enjoyed your,
the initiative they have Adopt a Corner.
I think that's a wonderful initiative, and I wanna thank you
and commend you for protecting laborers and all workers.
Yes. I, I would simply ask, uh, city council
to, to fund what works.
Uh, we've been at this for, since 2017,
so we're into year nine.
Uh, we are coordinated.
Uh, we have a, a multiracial coalition.
We have faith-based folks, we have law enforcement,
uh, that supports us.
We have hospitals and we have, you know, uh,
an external evaluation by, uh, the Center for Neighborhood
that engaged research.
And so, you know, for us, our funding has, you know,
been cut from last year and potentially cut more this year.
And, uh, given, you know, the, what the data says, uh,
we think, you know, continuing to fund us, you know,
at historic levels, uh, is the, the answer
to continuing to support our work.
My message to community, uh,
organizations will be reserved for community spaces.
That's where we have these conversations.
And many of you obviously, um,
are in both worlds in your individual capacities,
your community members, you're in these spaces.
But right now, in your capacity
as elected officials in City Hall, the People's Hall,
my message will address that part of your identity
and your service, uh, to our communities.
And that is to echo iliac PTA's, uh,
points made in the public comments earlier that
what we want from the city
and from the state is that our local laws
that protect the people of the state
and the city being enforced when violated
by these federal government agents
and they're, um, bounty hunters.
And you mentioned Gregory Bino,
and I wanna be very clear, what we're seeing right now is
militarized racism and bigotry.
This isn't like a woke rhetoric that I'm putting out forth.
This is by his own admission on WBEZ.
He goes, um, when, when agents, he acknowledged
that agents factor in someone's appearance when making
arrests gesturing toward a white reporter.
And he goes, obviously, the particular characteristics
of an individual meaning physically come into play,
how they look, how do they look compared to say you
and he points to the white reporter.
That's our law.
That's what part of legal don't you understand?
That's the legal, that's the protection,
that's the system by his own admission.
It is. And it's a gunpoint.
And it doesn't just target undocumented people,
it targets citizens because they can't tell the difference.
'cause guess what? We have brown citizens in this country.
News flash, a lot of them.
Everybody right now is at risk.
And I'll conclude by saying that again,
that's their own admission.
But also the stats, the data
and the anecdotal evidence
supports that this is what's happening.
We see citizens being whisked away.
We have cases of people walking outta the metro
with their EarPods on,
and they get bum rushed from behind
by four mass individuals,
and they tell 'em, we're citizens and they don't care.
They throw 'em in the back of a U-Haul or a pickup truck,
and then the next day they're dumped out of the back of the,
uh, uh, of the building because they
don't want the media to see it happen.
And they charge 'em with anything.
Resisting arrest, assaulting a police off
or assaulting, you know, a federal agent, whatever.
It's, that's the system. That's the legal.
What part of legal don't you understand
that they think is a solution to the problem right now?
And we have individuals that go through the system
and go to the U-S-C-I-S, you know, appointments
and that act as a bait to identify them
and then follow 'em back to their workplace or home
and arrest them the next day.
And that's the system for you. And so, what do people do?
Do they avoid going through the legal channels
because now they get to pay the price for it?
So to conclude, what we would like to see is an enforcement
of our local laws
and to legislate laws
where lows laws don't exist to protect the people.
I'd love to see, you know, to be quite frank with you,
an oversight and investigative body that's a collaboration
between the city and the state to oversee
the actions of these individuals. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Um, general, I, I,
just to conclude, I think
because there's a, a very concrete thing that we can do.
I think this collaboration with state
and city so important not only to oversight this,
but also to fund these programs.
We're gonna need state
and city collaboration to fund these programs
because this federal government is trying to
suffocate us to create chaos.
And lastly, what I'll love to say is that many
of these occasions I wanna refer to
what happened yesterday in the southeast side, are repeated
what we saw in Brighton Park.
These agents are lying to the public.
And this is also a crime when you lie that you were a victim
or ano ambush,
and the facts contradict us,
that is a crime to lie to the public.
They lied in Brighton Park when they, they
and chilling effect when they shoot live ammunition
at innocent civilians.
And they did that yesterday in southeast side.
Must be condemned. I condemned the actions of these agents
that are terrorizing communities,
and they lied once again yesterday in the southeast side,
they arrested three people, two of them US citizens, one
of them at least confirmed a minor.
I condemn a strongly those actions
and as well as the rest of our colleague,
all alder President Jesse Fuentes, for asking for a warrant.
And also for those elected officials
who are not signing in these resolutions,
I will also condemn not to stand on the side
or his, or the right side of history.
Thank you very much. Uh, alderman Kassala,
Thank you, chairman.
Um, man, I, my heart is heavy, uh, during this hearing.
I'm sure it is. For for many of us.
You know, as the proud son of immigrant parents, I,
I worry deeply for, um, my parents a mixed status, my father
who is undocumented, um,
and for the residents in my community
who have been terrorized.
So I just wanna hold space for that.
My question, uh, right now is for Ahmed, um, as one of our,
our legal, um, you know, experts here.
I was wondering, um, what is the precedent in regard
to holding federal agents accountable to state law
as it relates to the supremacy clause immunity?
Um, and for folks who don't know what that means, it's, uh,
ba basically a federal, uh, doctrine
that protects federal agents from state prosecution if they
were authorized by federal law.
So, of course, I think, you know, the, the, the efforts
of this committee and,
and other, um, legislative offices is we do want there to be
that prosecution, but clearly they're acting, um,
with immunity or they're pretending to act with immunity.
And so what kind of precedent is there, perhaps in, in,
in Illinois state law
or across the nation on, you know,
holding federal agents accountable, uh, for,
for breaking state and, and local laws.
Uh, thank you for that question.
And thank you for the personal reflection,
which grounds us back into the fact
that this isn't a theoretical thing.
It, it really is a practical thing
that affects almost everybody.
Um, I wanna be clear, ours is a movement,
whether it's Care Chicago
or CUFC, the Chicago United Families Coalition,
which means we have a lot of people, hundreds
of people involved, of various expertise.
Both of them are in the legal arena.
I myself as Ahmed Rahab, I'm not an attorney,
so I don't wanna misrepresent myself
as a legal expert myself,
although these organizations certainly are,
and they have the talent to be able
to answer these types of questions. Thank you for
That clarification. But
I will say this to your question, A I do know
that precedent exists, and b,
that the legal logic also exists.
I won't get into the details, so I don't
misrepresent as an attorney.
And lastly, what I'll say is because these organizations
and these spaces, which are in the leadership role right now
in our city, are so filled with talent,
and a lot of them are volunteers, people who come out and,
and very diverse by the way.
You have Latinos, you have, you know, south Asians,
you have Arabs, you have Jews, you have Christians,
you have black people, everybody's involved, faith leaders.
It's a really large umbrella of different people.
And we have legal teams that are so active on the ground
that even when we had our banquet recently,
which we felt could have been, you know, the space
that could be rated, because, you know,
so many Muslims in one space, we had the dozens
of attorneys sit at the back of the hall to be able
to be the first line of defense
and around in the parking lot,
and they're dealing in our community.
So I can get that answer to you in more detail consulting
or legal team if you allow me to do so. Yeah,
Absolutely. I think that'd be very
valuable information
for this committee and for, uh,
my folks, uh, throughout the council.
I also do think that it's important
to ground ourselves in the enormity
of the threat of the moment right now.
You know, I think it's important for us to reflect
that we are only nine months into this administration,
and we've already seen an unprecedented violent, uh,
approach, uh, to immigration enforcement
and, uh, the militarization of, you know, federal agencies,
um, and the violence that we've seen to, um,
to organize protests.
Uh, I do wanna remind, um, this committee
and, you know, put in the record that under the,
the new federal, um, you know, bill that was passed
a funding bill, there was $170 billion
that is going to federal immigration enforcement
and, uh, detention over the next four years,
$170 billion.
That is make no mistake, a way
to create a hostile domestic militarized force.
That is what they did in Fascist Germany.
And that is what they're doing in Fascist America today.
They're creating a militarized domestic force
to not only engage in this white supremacist, uh, you know,
minded, uh, immigration, uh, enforcement,
but to really militarize and,
and fight back against any forms of dissent.
So that's a real challenge that our, our advocates here
and ourselves are going to have to contend
with over the next four years.
Let's be clear that this is a political agenda that is meant
to divide and conquer a multiracial working class,
to advance white supremacy
and to enrich, enrich the billionaire class.
The same time. They're giving hundreds of billions
of dollars to this, these federal agencies.
They're giving hundreds of billions of dollars
to the billionaires and to corporate entities.
And the only way that we can beat back billions
of dollars is with millions of people.
So we can pass many resolutions and laws today,
but the true power lies in UA united
And clear people.
And that is the task before all of us today. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Uh, do any
of the committee members have further questions?
Okay. Uh, I wanna thank our guests today, our pres, uh,
presenters, uh,
our subject matter experts for the work that you're doing.
Uh, and I want to leave us a little bit
of hope before we get to votes.
Um, about a week
and a half ago, we decided
to put together a community meeting for neighbors
who had expressed interest in wanting
to do whatever possible, whether it's
a know your rights business canvas
or mutual aid for people who are afraid to leave their homes
or rapid response or communications.
We expected a couple hundred people come out.
We had 700 show up, That's just the start.
People before that, couple weeks prior, the northwest side,
uh, electeds had theirs.
They had over 508 hundreds of people as well show up.
So on Saturday, uh,
the Southwest side is having their solidarity training, uh,
from nine 30 to 1130 at Curie Metro High School,
49 59 South Archer.
After that, at noon at Butler Field at Grant Park,
there will be a a no Kings rally as well.
On Sunday in the 47th Ward, there'll be another, uh,
in November in the 43rd ward all across town.
You are seeing these meetings coming together
and hundreds of Chicagoans coming together in this moment,
understanding what our city is all about
and why I firmly believe this is the greatest city in this
country and the most American of them
because people are strong enough here to organize
and speak out when even their own government is the one
that's currently housing a domestic terrorist.
And so I want to thank all you for all the organizing.
I look forward to many more across town.
As we all come together in this moment.
I'll now move on to our votes,
the not yet.
Thank you very much guys.
The second item is R 2 0 2 5 dash
0 0 1 9 9 6 1.
Uh, that is the one that does not have a substitute.
Uh, seeing none, uh,
does anyone have questions about that resolution?
That is, uh, one calling on the, uh,
congressional delegation to investigate, uh, incidents
of misconduct by the federal government.
Uh, seeing no questions, I see a motion
by Alderwoman hadn't All those in favor
of passing the resolution respond by saying aye.
All those opposed by saying nay in the opinion
of the chair, the ayes have it.
I'll report this. Vote as a recommendation
to pass at the next city council meeting on
October 16th, 2025.
Moving on the third item,
R 2 0 2 5 dash 0 0 1 9 9 5 2.
Uh, I, there is a substitute the sponsor wants to introduce.
May I have a motion by either of its sponsors?
Alder Women will not Howorth
or Alder Men Sik Lopez
to accept the substitute resolution for consideration.
So moved by Alder Roman Manah,
Howorth Hearing, no objection.
So ordered. And we now have the substitute before us.
Do we have any questions about the resolution?
Seeing none, can I have a motion to vote on the resolution?
All the person, Rodriguez. So moved.
All those in favor of passing the resolution
respond by saying aye.
All of those opposed by saying nay in the opinion
of the chair, the ayes have it.
I will report this. Vote as a recommendation
to pass at the next city council meeting on
October 16th, 2025.
Moving to the fourth and final item, um,
R 2 0 2 5 0 0 1 9 180 1.
There's a sub substitute the sponsor wants to introduce.
May I have a motion to accept the substitute
resolution for consideration?
So moved by other person, Fuentes Hearing. No objection.
So, uh, ordered. And we have the substitute before us.
Does anyone have any questions about the resolution?
Seeing none, can I have a motion
to vote on the resolution thus yours?
Uh, somebody else? Yes. Your resolution. Okay.
So moved by Alder person, Fuentes.
All those in favor of passing the resolution
respond by saying aye.
All of those opposed by saying nay in the opinion
of the chair, the ayes have it.
I will report this. Vote as a recommendation
to pass at the next city council meeting on
October 16th, 2025.
Copies of any supplemental materials will be sent to you
and all materials will be hosted on our website.
Welcome to chicago.org.
Uh, within a week, any
through the chair follow ups will be sent
to the alters pending response from IJ
and presenters with no further business
before this committee may have a motion to adjourn.
Alderman Casada So moves, hearing No objection.
So ordered this meeting of the Committee on Immigrant
and Refugee Rights is now adjourned.