MEDIA RECAP: IMRR Deputy Mayor, CTU, & Ald. Byron Join CUFC, CAIR-Chicago, Legal & Faith Leaders Condemn Unlawful DHS & ICE Tactics in Chicago
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(CHICAGO, IL, 10/9/25) – The Chicago United Families Coalition (CUFC) — comprised of legal, communications, organizing, and political advocates — today held an emergency press conference on Thursday, October 9th at 11:00 AM, to respond to increasingly aggressive, fascist, and militaristic ICE/DHS tactics across Chicago and suburbs.
WHO:
Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago
Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward)
Beatriz Ponce de Leon, Deputy Mayor for Chicago Office of Immigrant, Migrant, & Refugee Rights (IMRR)
Dr. Julie Bruene, Pilsen Defense & Access
Crystal Gardener, Chicago Teachers Union (CTU)
Robin Potter, Esq., National Employment Lawyers Association
Imam Tariq El-Amin, Masijd Al Taqwa
Pastor Emma Lozano, Centro Sin Fronteras/Lincoln United Methodist Church
Federal overreach in Chicago has intensified. The Trump administration, with cooperation from Texas Governor Greg Abbott, has deployed Texas National Guard troops to Illinois (Elwood, near Chicago) to support ICE and DHS operations — despite vocal opposition from Governor JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson, both of whom Trump has publicly threatened with jail for resisting these enforcement actions.
This follows a surge in reports of armed federal agents patrolling and terrorizing immigrant neighborhoods with chemical agents, South Shore apartment raids, violent detentions at Broadview Detention Center, racial profiling, kidnappings, family separation and more abuses throughout the city. CUFC and partners are calling for accountability, transparency, and an end to militarized operations targeting families in Chicago.
CUFC’s mission is to extend our basic belief in the universal right of every human being to dignity, fairness, due process, and neighborly assistance to the most vulnerable families in our cities, including undocumented folks.
CONTACT: Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago, 202-870-0166, arehab@cair.com | Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez ward25@cityofchicago.org | Robin Potter Robin@potterlaw.org | Hafsa Haider, Communications Director, CAIR-Chicago, 561-317-7509, hhaider@cair.com