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A commission formed to document alleged harassment and abuse by federal agents during immigration proceedings chicago The area reviewed the widespread use of chemical agents in its first public hearing on Thursday.
The aggressive tactics of the immigration campaign that began in September have been widely condemned by judges, elected leaders and a growing number of residents in the nation’s third-largest city and surrounding suburbs. formed by Illinois Governor JB PritzkerThe commission is the latest pushback by the Democratic-led state against federal interference from the Trump administration, which critics say is discriminatory and an overreach of executive power.
“It will be impossible to forget,” said Ruben Castillo, a former federal judge who led the commission’s immigration campaign. “The one thing we can’t do is accept it. This can’t be the new normal.”
The meeting came as a Border Patrol commander — who was the face of the Chicago operation before leading similar operations in North Carolina and Louisiana — surprisingly returned to the Chicago area this week.
More than 4,000 people have been arrested in the Chicago-area crackdown, which led to a fatal shooting by federal agents. The operation prompted several lawsuits and a new law that protects immigrants from arrest near courts, hospitals and schools. Other places that have stepped up immigration enforcement have also protested, including California, which this month launched a portal for residents to file complaints against federal agents for alleged misconduct.
There are some limits to what the Illinois commission can do, which members acknowledged as they played video clips and heard testimony about well-documented incidents, including an agent pepper spraying a child and her father. The commission can’t compel anyone to testify, press charges, or make laws, but they will issue a report with recommendations next year.
Members include lawyers, community leaders and retired judges who said their goal was also to create an accurate historical record of the impact on the community because the Trump administration’s account of what happened often contradicts what was seen and recorded by direct witnesses.
Department of Homeland Security Federal officials have rightly defended their approach in the face of increasing threats. The agency has received praise for its efforts to arrest violent criminals, although public records from their first weeks in Chicago show that most of those arrested did not have violent criminal records.
DHS did not immediately respond to a message left Thursday.
Community leaders have said that the operation has been devastating for the community.
The hearing Thursday took place near Little Village, dubbed the “Mexico of the Midwest,” which was hit hardest by immigration agents. Businesses have reported a downturn and schools have seen attendance decline as many residents remain on the sidelines.
Matt DeMetto, the pastor who leads New Life Centers, testified, “The story of removing dangerous criminals is simply not true.”
Senior Border Patrol officer Greg Bovino left the Chicago area last month. His surprise return amid the ongoing operation in New Orleans sparked immediate reaction democratic Citadel, where workers were following agents as they patrolled throughout the city and suburbs. That included a confrontation Wednesday with the mayor of Evanston, an affluent Chicago suburb where Northwestern University is located.
Bovino posted about his conversation with Mayor Daniel Biss last month.
“Although he again fell into the divisiveness that we heard from politicians in Chicago, I hope it was enlightening for him,” Bovino said on social platform X.
Bis, who is running for Congress, had a different view.
“We will not be intimidated,” he said in a statement posted to X along with a photo of the Bovino conversation. “Get out of our city.”