Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Illinois, said that at least four people living in her district were \u201cdisappeared\u201d as Friday\u2019s hearing unfolded. While the arrests continued away from Friday\u2019s \u201cshadow hearing,\u201d Ramirez told Block Club that the visit offered a valuable perspective for her colleagues who haven\u2019t yet seen federal agents descend on their communities as they have in Chicago.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing beats watching, seeing, walking through these streets \u2014 whether it\u2019s in Little Village or Albany Park or Humboldt Park \u2014 to actually feel and see and take that back to the work that we have to do,\u201d Ramirez said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Among those who left to deal with raids that were happening at the same time were Cook County Board Commissioner Jessica V\u00e1squez, Ald. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33rd) and State Rep. Lilian Jim\u00e9nez, Ramirez said during the hearing. State Sen. Graciela Guzman also left the hearing to respond to the raids, Rodriguez-Sanchez told Block Club.<\/p>\n
Friday\u2019s gathering was the fourth in a series of \u201cshadow hearings<\/a>\u201d \u2014 or unofficial public hearings \u2014 by a group of members of Congress touring the country to discuss the tactics deployed by immigration agents and the trauma left behind. Previous hearings were held in Washington, D.C., and this was the first one held in Chicago, said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington.<\/p>\n \u201cMy people are being hunted down, in Chicago, by ICE and CBP and other agencies,\u201d said Juliet De Jesus Alejandre, the Logan Square Neighborhood Association\u2019s executive director, during the hearing.\u00a0<\/p>\n For more than a month, Chicagoans have tried to keep up with ICE sightings across the city, sharing information with each other, including through rapid response groups. Across the city neighbors \u2014 including City Council members<\/a> \u2014 are using\u00a0bright orange whistles<\/a>\u00a0to warn others when federal immigration officials are nearby.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryday community members, also known as rapid responders<\/a>, are now the last line of defense against unbridled, violent kidnappings of both our beloved immigrant families and neighbors and, also, U.S.-born Black and Brown Chicagoans,\u201d De Jesus Alejandre said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rep. Jes\u00fas \u201cChuy\u201d Garc\u00eda, D-Illinois, directed his ire at Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino \u2014 the public face of the ongoing operations in Chicago \u2014 saying that Bovino and other federal agents have been operating without warrants and are violating residents\u2019 Constitutional rights.<\/p>\n \u201cWe saw a little man [Bovino] lead an attack on a hard-working, studious, industrious community as he sprayed tear gas<\/a> on people in our community. We reject these practices,\u201d Garc\u00eda said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Over the past month, federal agents in and around Chicago have\u00a0shot at least two people<\/a>,\u00a0killing one<\/a>; repeatedly\u00a0tear-gassed protesters<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0first responders<\/a>;\u00a0shot rubber bullets<\/a>\u00a0at protesters;\u00a0detained U.S. citizens<\/a>,\u00a0including children<\/a>;\u00a0handcuffed a Chicago alderperson in a hospital<\/a>;\u00a0smoke-bombed and tear-gassed people in Logan Square<\/a>,\u00a0Albany Park<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0East Side<\/a>;\u00a0fired a chemical weapon at a TV reporter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0detained a journalist<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Michigan, also presented recruitment ads from the Department of Homeland Security that she said were examples of how members of the Trump administration, like Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller<\/a>, are pushing an \u201cextremist\u201d anti-immigrant ideology via federal agents\u2019 actions.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI want my colleges to remember this, because when we get the gavel back, we\u2019ve got to know they\u2019re already there. We\u2019ve got to address white supremacy within our agencies that are attacking our immigrant neighbors,\u201d Tlaib said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Arrests without due process or access to legal counsel shows that people are being \u201cdisappeared and kidnapped\u201d by the Trump administration, Tlaib said.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t believe I can\u2019t find my residents. Literally for days,\u201d Tlaib said.<\/p>\n Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois, suggested that immigration officials were violating the law at ICE\u2019s Broadview processing facility, citing feedback from constituents who\u2019ve had loved ones detained there. He read an email from one person who wrote, \u201cMy dad was sent to Mexico, but he told me he signed his voluntary leave because the conditions were so inhumane inside the Broadview facility.\u201d<\/p>\n The conditions included up to 60 people kept inside one cell, which has forced them to sleep standing up, Krishnamoorthi said.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-24-at-2.40.04-PM-1024x736.png\")
A Department of Homeland Security recruitment advertisement posted to Instagram on Aug. 5, 2025. Credit: Screen Capture<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_0310-1024x683.jpg\")
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Michigan, holds printouts of recruitment advertisements the Department of Homeland Security has posted to social media during an Oct. 24, 2025 hearing about President Donald Trump\u2019s immigration policies at the Cook County board room. Credit: Alex V. Hernandez\/Block Club Chicago<\/p>\n