Copyright Joliet, IL Patch
Amid a rise in reports of federal agents in the region, the Skokie Village Board passed a measure strengthening protections against ICE. SKOKIE, IL — The Skokie Village Board of Trustees unanimously passed an anti-Immigrations and Customs Enforcement ordinance this week amid growing community concerns over recent violent arrests from federal agents. The ordinance made amendments to Chapter 58 of the Village Code, strengthening protections against federal immigration enforcement. The amendments include prohibiting village personnel from assisting in immigration enforcement activities without a criminal warrant and creating internal protocols for reporting federal agents' use of village property. The measure also spearheads the distribution of "know your rights" informational materials within the village. Before the meeting, congressional candidate and current Skokie School District 73.5 Board of Education member Bushra Amiwala held a rally to urge the board to pass the ordinance. “This past week alone, I have gotten calls every single day from people who are seeking help because their families are being ripped apart by ICE,” Amiwala said to rally goers. "These policies won’t stop the suffering ICE has caused. But they will help. It’s time to defend Skokie. We must coalesce against ICE operations in our Village.” During one enforcement incident that occurred last week in Evanston, federal agents were caught on video repeatedly punching a person in the head. Immigration agents arrested three people after a sedan collided with the rear of the U.S. Border Patrol vehicle around noon Friday in the city of Evanston. The episode drew a crowd of onlookers and quickly escalated. Federal agents are seen at times deploying pepper spray, punching a man who approaches the officers, and pointing a gun in the direction of another woman who opened the agents' vehicle door, where a detainee had been placed. At the meeting, Mayor Anne Tennes said she participated in a call that included approximately 100 mayors in the region, who all said they were seeing similar incidents in their communities. "This isn't just aggressive enforcement by ICE it's hostile enforcement, and that's what we're seeing, and our neighboring communities are seeing," Tennes said. Federal agents have been spreading throughout the region in recent days as part of President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement activities in the Chicagoland. In response to ICE's growing pretense in the area, community members have organized local resources to warn federal agents when federal agents are spotted. Skokie residents were urged to call the Family Support Network hotline for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights at 855-435-7693 if they see federal immigration enforcement activity in the village.
