Thread: ICE has removed more than 12,000 immigrants from Gary airport since 2013

ICE has removed more than 12,000 immigrants from Gary airport since 2013

20 min ago


Protesters gather outside of the Gary/Chicago International Airport during an April demonstration against ICE
use for deportations. (Jim Karczewski / Post-Tribune)

August 19,2017 3:28 pm

Ruth Needleman remembers the horror that crept over her the first time she saw two white buses loaded with detained immigrants pull through the gates at the Gary/Chicago International Airport.

"I was almost paralyzed by the sight of it because it's so terrifying."

The Gary/Chicago International Airport remains one of the Midwest airports supporting deportation efforts of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

More than 12,000 immigrants have been flown out of the airport since ICE Air Operations began using the airport for detainee removal flights in June 2013.

As of June 28, 12,509 people have been flown out of the airport since 2013, according to ICE.

Detained immigrants are bused into Gary from a detention center about 40 miles away in Broadview, Ill. From there, detainees are flown to other domestic airports before being transported to their native countries.

During 2016 fiscal year, ICE removed 240,255 people throughout the U.S., 58 percent of whom were previously convicted of a crime, according to the agency's latest published statistics.

Sister JoAnn Persch, who has prayed outside the Broadview Detention Center every Friday for the past decade before the immigrants are bused to Gary, said the climate surrounding immigration is getting worse but she won't let that discourage her.

"It can be very sad, but we have to keep praying," she said.

A spokesman for the Gary/Chicago International Airport said the airport is prohibited from preventing flights in and out of the airport as a condition for receiving federal aid for airport projects.

"The Airport Authority is committed to fulfilling all of its obligations with the federal government," he said. "We do not make or enforce federal immigration policy. We run an airport."

Earlier this year, Gary became the first municipality in Northwest Indiana to become a "welcoming city," which provides some protection for noncitizens living in Gary.

After learning about the deportations flights, Needleman organized two protests outside of the airport in the northwest corner of the city.

During the most recent protest in May, two buses with blacked-out windows and a white van with tinted windows pulled into the west gate of the airport off of Industrial Highway as protesters marched near the front gate.

Needleman said she will continue her efforts to protest the deportations.

"The challenge is enormous because we don't see in the short term stopping the deportations," she said. "Nothing is more important than solidarity and that means building solidarity from the local level to a global level. This is going to take a collective effort from different constituency groups or we will fail."


Protesters stand outside of the Gary/Chicago International Airport entrance in an April demonstration expressing
their dissatisfaction with the use of the airport by ICE for deportations. (Jim Karczewski / Post-Tribune)

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburb...819-story.html

Oh Ruth, you poor soul, your "challenge" is a dead duck. Buy some orange sauce and eat it. There is no stopping this Trump Train. Illegal aliens will be deported, every single one of them. There is no "constituency" at any local or global level that will defeat this goal of this President. And as soon as the general public sees the new employment opportunities, numerous other financial benefits and lower crime and welfare rates, there will be no tolerance ever again in the United States for the scourge of illegal immigration. You might as well be waving signs for pedophiles, because illegal aliens will be even less popular.

I just said in another similar post how Gary (Once the murder capital of the world) isn't too far from. Good, let's load em up and get em out. But these numbers need to increase dramatically.

Originally Posted by 6 Million Dollar Man

I just said in another similar post how Gary (Once the murder capital of the world) isn't too far from me. Good, let's load em up and get em out. But these numbers need to increase dramatically.

They need to increase 100 fold. Ramp it up, ICE. Get those new agents hired and on the job. Target big groups, this is a prioritized numbers game, nothing but.

Originally Posted by Judy

They need to increase 100 fold. Ramp it up, ICE. Get those new agents hired and on the job. Target big groups, this is a prioritized numbers game, nothing but.

Oops. I left out the word "me" from the phrase "Gary isn't too far from me. I do that a lot because I try to type too fast. And yes, I'm very anal about my grammar and spelling.

I just thought I'd mention that so you guys don't think I'm some kind of moron that doesn't know how to read and write. I could've corrected (edited) it, but since one of my friends already quoted me on here before I noticed it, it's already kinda cemented in, in cyberspace.

IMO, 12,000 is a good start and I would bet that the majority were working aged men.

Originally Posted by Newmexican

IMO, 12,000 is a good start and I would bet that the majority were working aged men.

I guess any is better than none, however, not sure I would call it a "good start" since it goes all the way back to 2013.

Good reply Judy!

Love it!

Originally Posted by 6 Million Dollar Man

Oops. I left out the word "me" from the phrase "Gary isn't too far from me. I do that a lot because I try to type too fast. And yes, I'm very anal about my grammar and spelling.

I just thought I'd mention that so you guys don't think I'm some kind of moron that doesn't know how to read and write. I could've corrected (edited) it, but since one of my friends already quoted me on here before I noticed it, it's already kinda cemented in, in cyberspace.

Nothing is "cemented in cyberspace" when there's an "edit button". Fixed it, my friend!!

‘ICE Air’ flew more than 32,000 immigrants out of Mesa in less than 10 months