Accountability And Justice: Immigration Advocates On How Dems Can Reshape Immigration Policy

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

What's the 411 and 312? Stay clued in to what's going on in Chicago with The Rundown. We breeze through the day's headlines and spend a little more time on One Big Story, all in 10 minutes tops. Available every weekday afternoon, wherever you get your podcasts.

Sasha-Ann Simons (0:28)

Hey, Chicago, I'm Sasha-Ann Simons, and this is In The Loop.

Be sure to listen all the way through the podcast for the breakdown of the day's top local stories. But first, for many Chicagoans, immigration enforcement was a top issue this election season. It was something they watched play out in their neighborhoods, their schools and workplaces this past summer, when our area saw an uptick in ICE activity after last fall's aggressive Operation Midway Blitz. And advocates say families are still feeling the impact. Now with Democrats on the verge of taking control of Congress, what immigration policy changes could be on the table? In this episode of the podcast, we ask a panel of local immigration advocates what they're watching and what they want elected officials to do next. At the table with me was Ahmed Rehab, executive director of CAIR Chicago, Erendira Rendon, chief program officer of the Resurrection Project. And later in the podcast, we'll hear from Cristóbal Cavazos, executive director of Casa DuPage Workers Center.

Now with my first two guests, I started by asking for their initial reactions after Tuesday's election results. Ere, kick things off.

Erendira Rendon (1:40)

Well, first, I'm thankful that the voters went out there. And I know that voters voted for numerous reasons the way that they did. But we do know because of polling that one of the reasons is because of the overreach of immigration enforcement. It's clear that Americans don't want to see masked agents in our communities, in our streets, terrorizing Latino communities and hunting down immigrants and, frankly, people that just look Latino.

And I'm also really hopeful seeing how Latinos across the country voted with diverse communities to build a stronger coalition to make sure that we continue to build on a US that all families can thrive and can be protected.

Ahmed Rehab (2:26)

You know, this was a choice between two Americas, one that is wedded to culture wars and another that is looking for practical, common sense solutions to everyday problems, including affordability and immigration. And I think the latter one, it wasn't a wave, it was a tsunami, really.

And now the question becomes what can be done as a result of that success so that we're not back in the pendulum swing.

Sasha-Ann Simons (2:49)

What are you hearing, Ere, from communities that you are serving? I'm drawn to what you mentioned to me a moment ago when we, before we started this segment, when you said I was really anxious for the last month and now I'm feeling a little better.

Erendira Rendon (3:04)

Yeah.

Sasha-Ann Simons (3:04)

Talk me through that.

Erendira Rendon (3:05)

Yeah. I mean, it's been an awful couple of years being an immigrant because of the amount of enforcement and the type and the way that enforcement has been done and just being fearful every single time you leave your house. Because you may not come back, but also because the way that the enforcement was being done, and was just so outrageously violent. I think folks were really hopeful, but it's hard to be hopeful because of the last few years.

Our families are relieved, but this doesn't change. One election overnight doesn't change what is happening probably today. There continue to be arrests, there continue to be deportations. Hundreds, tens of thousands of people are in detention right now. And so, what we really need is permanent protections and making sure that this enforcement, as it's been happening, you know, it stops immediately.

Sasha-Ann Simons (4:03)

Lots of deportations, lots of outrage. I want to go back to something you brought up, the violence of this all. Let's remember and sit with for a moment what played out on our streets last fall.

Erendira Rendon (4:16)

Yeah, so, and you know, we do continue to see this type of enforcement across the country. What has happened is that instead of it being completely targeted in one city and you really experienced it over and over again and it was slower and there was more rapid response activity that was happening, more people taking video, this continues to happen across the country. We've really seen a big enforcement in the last few weeks in California with street enforcements. In Chicago, what we've been seeing a lot is people, what we call mass hearings where folks are being ordered to go to court in hundreds a day and then given one week or two weeks notice.