ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) – Brandon Lee credits organization as the best path forward for handling immigration operations in Illinois.
On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security announced Operation Midway Blitz: an Immigration Customs and Enforcement targeting undocumented immigrants in Illinois. The operation’s brought a hectic energy to the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights (ICIRR), where Lee serves as communications director.
“ICE and the Trump administration have their eyes not only on Chicago, but on the whole state of Illinois,” he said.
Lee’s ICIRR coordinates rapid response teams preparing for heightened immigration action in communities like Chicago and Rockford. Recently, the Rockford Rapid Response Team launched as a local effort to update the area on ICE activities.
“Having the statewide network to watch out for different types of enforcement to look out for our neighbors is important at this time,” stressed Lee.
Although I reached out to Rockford’s team for an interview, those with the group directed me to Lee to discuss the growing statewide effort for dispersing information.
“This is about documentation, and it is about connecting the family with the resources that they need,” described Lee.
Rapid response teams work in the following process: a community member dials the ICIRR hotline notifying of possible ICE activity, response team members arrive to the scene for confirmation and, if activity’s established, local teams alert the community on social media.
“Knowing that there is a group that is responding to tips that come in from Rockford and looking out for their neighbors is important in this moment,” asserted Lee.
State Senator Andrew Chesney (R-Freeport) describes groups like these as counterproductive.
“There is a faction of people that want to protect illegal immigrants,” said the Republican lawmaker. He mentioned the rapid response teams should tread lightly.
“If you are allowing and providing resources for lawbreakers, I view that as an illegal action,” he said, adding team members could be accessories to crimes for aiding undocumented immigrants.
Lee counters teams like Rockford’s follow the law: “This is about documentation, and it is about connecting the family with the resources that they need… We never advise people to interfere.”
When asked how communities should respond to immigration operations, Chesney claims there’s no need to treat ICE differently from typical law enforcement.
“I think there’s those that are on the side of law enforcement and safe communities, and then there’s those that are on the side of rule breakers and those that enter the country illegally,” he affirmed. “It is our responsibility as lawmakers in the state and throughout the country to make sure that people are safe in their communities.”
ICIRR’s communications director calls the Trump administration’s approach towards immigration as “overreaching.”
“It is taking in vendors off the street. It is taking in our neighbors,” said Lee. “All Illinoisans should be pushing back against the excesses of the Trump administration… Immigrants are part of the fabric of our state.”
Lee maintains the teams’ “rapid” efforts have only intensified in the days following ICE’s increase in activity around Chicago.
“We know that they try to move quickly to prevent people from accessing attorneys, so we tried to be rapid in our follow-up with families to make sure that they have representation, they know where their loved ones are.”
ICIRR trains those joining local teams to prioritize documentation during immigration operations. Those interested in learning more can find additional information on ICIRR’s website. The organization’s hotline for family support is 855-435-7693.
While Homeland Security conducted an operation in June in Rockford, there’s been no confirmation of other operations in the area.
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