[Earlier version published at https://jackcdoppelt.substack.com/p/immigrant-disappearances-in-chicago]
If you’re like me, you’ll find it hard to believe this story. Yet, it happened here in Chicago earlier this week, it was painfully predictable, and it leaves a deep boot print of what’s afoot.
The CBS News Chicago headline: “ICE agents detain several people at immigration supervision program site in Chicago” only hints at the state of affairs.
I sought out the story after I heard a report on WBEZ. In it, a person who was interviewed referred to the incident as “shameful, chilling and dystopian.” That caught my attention.
Both accounts report that the vigilantes were masked, that they wore gear that had the words POLICE or HCI or both emblazoned on their riot gear. Videos confirm it.
HCI is synonymous with the Hestafo (Homeland Security Task Forces), Trump’s reconstituted storm troopers.
How did the Hestafo know when and where to round up immigrants? Easy ploy. They used databases to text official messages to immigrants, instructing them to appear for routine appointments that had been set up as part of the Intensive Supervision Appearance program that allows authorities to monitor those facing immigration proceedings without placing them in custody. Immigrants are summoned to the facility periodically to ensure they are complying with the conditions of their release from custody, and to make sure they appear in court when required.
If they don’t appear? It’s an unforgiving violation of the law, making them subject to deportation. What would you do?
Go on the lam and be a fugitive inching your way up the ladder to THE WORST FIRST criminal elements that ICE and Trump pretended they were after to make America safe or be duped into the trap they’d sprung for you as part of the evolving selective foreign eradication policies that are reinforced by increased aggressive policing and militarization of local law enforcement. Keep your eyes on the due processes that are the ones that now matter, as Trump:
- transformed almost all aliens, including green card holders (lawful permanent residents), asylum seekers, refugees, and even some students on F1 visas into “illegal” immigrants.
- ended temporary protected status for Afghans.
- suspended the US refugee program the day Trump took office.
- selectively grandrefugeed in South African whites for privileged admission into the US.
- revoked student visas for international students, most notably at Harvard.
- issued a travel ban on citizens from 12 countries - Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, along with restrictions on citizens from other countries.
ICE is touting, through Fox News, more than 2,300 immigrant arrests per day en route to Trump’s proclaimed goal of 3,000+ daily arrests. Yesterday’s devious smoke-out in Chicago took place at 23rd & Michigan in the south Loop and disappeared about a dozen people. Who’s to know? Not their families or lawyers.
Or Chicago police who seem to have been bamboozled into appearing like they were part of the action. They were not notified of the trick. Officers showed up at the scene, the CPD says, to ensure that the confrontation didn’t get out of hand. Hard to pierce the subterfuge. Hestafo’s gear says POLICE in bold letters. Clever way to undercut the city’s sanctuary laws, its Welcoming City ordinance and Illinois’ Trust Act, which prohibit local law enforcement agents from collaborating with federal officials to arrest and detain immigrants.
Almost a year ago, before Trump’s election but when it seemed pre-ordained, I reflected on who I would be and how I would act if it came to this. Painfully predictable, yet now what? I anticipated I’d need to confront the real portent of resistance.
It was abstract. Here’s how I left it:
“It is not something I know how to engage in. I have no playbook. When I think about it, it seems like a dystopian fantasy or the musings of a savior complex. When it goes beyond organized peaceful protests or legal strategies, its actions can’t be publicly shared or disseminated. Texts, email and social media would be mostly off-limits.
If peaceful protesters are arrested, would I and others join in to swell the ranks to make arrests less feasible? If immigrants are rounded up for deportation, would I and others hide people in our homes? Would I and others seek out churches, synagogues and mosques for sanctuaries, solidarity and moral guidance? Do undergrounds form organically?
I’m in uncharted territory here.”
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