Chicago police should never cooperate with ICE

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In this Nov. 16, 2018, file photo, an immigrant who entered the U.S. illegally is checked before boarding a deportation flight to El Salvador by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Some activists want to get rid of all rules that allow Chicago police to cooperate with ICE. | AP Photo/David J. Phillip,

As an organizer within Chicago’s immigrant community, I read with interest the Sun-Times editorial regarding where the mayoral candidates stand on the Welcoming City ordinance. The current ordinance allows four instances in which Chicago police can collaborate and communicate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The Sun-Times argues that three of these exceptions should be removed but that immigrants with felony records should not be protected.

The ordinance states that protections do not apply when an individual “has been convicted of a felony…” no matter how long ago, what the conviction was for, or what the person has done subsequently. Given the Trump policy of detaining children and charging their parents with felonies for simply seeking asylum at the border, we should be wary of what felony convictions actually mean. We ought not presume that anyone with a felony has “worn out their welcome.”

SEND LETTERS TO: letters@suntimes.com. Please include your neighborhood or hometown and a phone number for verification purposes.

What ICE is asking of the police has been ruled unconstitutional. Immigration detainers allow police to hold immigrants without probable cause, even after posting bail. Courts throughout the country have found that such holds violate the rights of the detained. Even persons with felonies have constitutional rights, and CPD should never be complicit in violating them.

The criminal justice and immigration systems should not be intertwined. Why allow exceptions? We welcome immigrants. We respect and defend the civil and constitutional rights of all communities.

We agree with candidates Lori Lightfoot, Toni Preckwinkle and Amara Enyia, who support the elimination of all exceptions to the welcoming ordinance, to stop police from doing the work of federal agents, and to protect individuals’ rights to due process. We can make Chicago a true sanctuary for immigrants.

Reyna Wences

Immigration Working Group

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