Courtesy of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
Edited by Lawndale Bilingual News
Members of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) and Organized Communities Against Deportations (OCAD) are celebrating the notice by the Chicago Field Office of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that it is postponing the “citizen’s academy” that it planned to start on September 15. ICE had announced plans to hold the “citizen’s academy” in July. The invitation included few details, but specifically stated that the academy would include training in “firearms familiarization and targeted arrests.”
Although ICE cited COVID-19 concerns as an excuse for postponing the academy, advocates believe the real reason was the overwhelming voice of immigrant and allied communities opposing the academy. Working with Organized Communities Against Deportations (OCAD) and the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR), ICIRR and its members have been planning a People’s Academy bringing together 500 people outside the ICE office when the “citizen’s academy” would have started on September 15. ICIRR and its members had already flooded ICE leadership with nearly 1,000 emails demanding they shut down the academy.
We know this fight is not over. We need to mobilize against the administration’s deployment of agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other federal agencies attacking and detaining protesters calling for racial justice and an end to police violence. We need DHS to stop defying rulings by the US Supreme Court and start accepting new DACA applicants so that hundreds of thousands of immigrants get protection from deportation. On September 15th, we will gather for our People’s Academy Rally and Teach In to celebrate a victory in shutting down another oppressive ICE tactic by educating and mobilizing our community to take action to defund ICE, CBP, and police at the People’s Academy. The work is not over yet, so we will empower and turn out voters to the polls this fall to make our voices heard on November 3rd.
