WSJ: In Chicago, lawyer activists have created a system of notifying illegal migrants about immigration police raids

In the Little-Willidge area, known as the Mexican District, Chicago (USA), local activists have created an effective system for notifying illegal migrants about ICE immigration service raids, The Wall Street Journal is told in the material. As soon as the SUVs of federal agents appear in the area, activists immediately launch the notification chain through text messages, social networks and calls between local authoritative personalities.

According to the member of the city council of Michael Rodriguez, the system works almost instantly - activists receive videos, text messages and go out to the streets to monitor the movements of ICE agents until they leave the district.

Human rights groups began to prepare for the strengthening of law enforcement measures immediately after the November elections, in which Donald Trump won, who promised to deport millions of illegal migrants from the United States. The organization Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refuge Rights (Icirr) conducted training with it in the groups at the training “Know your rights” and turned its hotline into the dispatch center for messages about Ice raids.

The strategy works as follows: when a resident notices suspicious activity, he calls the ICIRR hotline. Then Icirr sends activists to the city to confirm the message, make photos and videos, as well as support the detainees. As a result of such organized work, according to Chicago Chicago Chief Larry Snelling, only 100 people were detained in Chicago and the suburbs in the first week of the operation.

Even if volunteers cannot completely prevent arrests, their organization helps to quickly provide assistance to the victims. For example, the 42-year-old Roman Ruis, having received a message about the arrest of a person after he took the child to school, went to the scene and helped the pregnant wife of the detainee to solve the issue with the car and get the necessary support.

Earlier, the Pentagon sent 1,500 military personnel to strengthen security on the southern border of the United States. This decision was one of the first steps of the administration of the new president Donald Trump. At the inauguration, he signed a number of decrees, including those aimed at tightening migration policy. Prior to this, it became known that on behalf of the US Department of Justice, federal prosecutors would initiate criminal cases against officials from states and cities who refuse to cooperate with the White House of Donald Trump in the fight against illegal immigration.