PRESS STATEMENT: CUFC, COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS, & IL ELECTEDS CONDEMN ARMED ICE AGENTS IN DOWNTOWN CHICAGO — DEMAND AN END TO FAMILY SEPARATIONS, AND RACIAL PROFILING
CUFC’s Kalman Resnick, a longtime immigration attorney and member of CAIR-Chicago’s Legal Advisory Board, alongside fellow Legal Advisory Board member Waleed Naser, document ICE agents during Sunday’s escalation of force in downtown Chicago (via Chicago Tribune photographer Eileen T. Meslar)
(CHICAGO, IL, 9/29/2025) - The Chicago United Families Coalition (CUFC), comprised of Legal, Communications, Organizing, and Political Committee advocates, today joins the condemnations issued by immigration organizations and elected officials denouncing the deployment of fully armed, masked ICE agents in Chicago's downtown area. Around 1:00 pm on Sunday, September 28th, ICE agents arrived at Grant Park and appeared to detain a family, forcing their 8-year-old daughter to translate the detainment of her own parents. ICE continued to patrol downtown, into the River North neighborhood, and even on boats along the Chicago River. This follows a weekend of protests outside of the Broadview, IL ICE Detention Center, where demonstrators were subjected to rubber bullets, pepper balls, tear gas, and brutal arrests, including a CBS Reporter whose vehicle was targeted with chemical agents by ICE while she was driving.
This is yet another escalatory action by the shameful Trump administration aiming to terrorize Chicago and normalize an armed military presence in broad daylight, among children and families. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson condemned the deployment, stating: "While Chicagoans and visitors are enjoying another gorgeous Sunday, they are being intimidated and threatened by masked federal agents flaunting automatic weapons for no apparent reason”.
CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab added, “Sending an army into our streets to pick up ‘suspicious looking brown people’ is NOT an immigration policy. And they know it. This is a scam. A very expensive and destructive one. They are not actually interested in solutions or fixing anything. Only performative tough guy optics designed to instill fear and eke subservience, which is all you get for your tax dollars when ruled over by egotistical charlatans.”
President Trump and his Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino have brought discriminatory patrol forces to Chicago that, according to Bovino himself, are making arrests based on how people look. Outside of obvious racism, these operations have failed to produce real results for them in Los Angeles- only Instagram reel videos that give the illusion ICE is doing work.
Alderman Byron-Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward) expressed, ”This level of attacks and intimidation in our city should not be tolerated; it should be a call to action. It is not only about the immigrant community—all of our rights, our First Amendment rights, our constitutional rights are under attack. We will not be intimidated, we will not be silenced, we will continue to fight and protect our community.”
Alderman Sigcho-Lopez, alongside sign-on advocates, also submitted “A Resolution of the City Council of Chicago, Illinois, Prohibiting Child Endangerment in Federal Immigration or Law Enforcement and Implementing Oversight, Accountability, and Humane Policies” to the Chicago Committee on Immigrant & Refugee Rights (CIRR) last week in City Council. The resolution would prohibit federal immigration and law enforcement practices that endanger children—such as raids, family separations, and arrests in sensitive locations—while calling for humane policies, safeguards, and protections to keep families safe.
Chicago is a Sanctuary City and will not cede any ground to fascist intimidation or fear tactics aimed at harming vulnerable communities, carried out by officials misled by President Trump, whose administration continues to display extreme incompetence.
If you believe you are witnessing ICE activity, please call ICIRR’s 24-Hour Family Support Hotline at 1-855-HELP-MY-FAMILY (855-435-7693) to report it.
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 | Jordan Esparza-Kelley, Communications Coordinator of CAIR-Chicago, 224-627-1032, j-EsparzaKelley@cair.com