Thread: Several arrested at immigration enforcement protest

Several arrested at immigration enforcement protest
Chicago Tribune
By Antonio Olivo Tribune reporter
8:15 p.m. CDT, August 17, 2011


Alaa Mukahhal gives a thumbs up to fellow Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights' protester Arianna Salgado as Salgado is arrested after she helped block the Washington Street exit ramp off of I-94 while protesting "Secure Communities" program in Chicago, IL on Wednesday, August 17, 2011. (Scott Strazzante, Chicago Tribune / August 17, 2011)

During an emotional hearing about a federal immigration enforcement program that has generated controversy nationwide, about 40 protesters, several of the in the country illegally, marched outside a downtown union hall and staged an impromptu sit in at Washington and Des Plaines streets.

The demonstrators blocked traffic, chanting "undocumented and unafraid," while Chicago police sought to control the spontaneous protest.

"This minor event will mean that we can be deported," said Alaa Mukahhal, 25, who helped lead the group in briefly daring police to take action.

By 7:30 p.m., several arrests were made, with one male protester apparently pushed a police officer. The crowd had by then marched west on Washington toward a Dan Ryan Expressway bridge, waving signs to traffic below that read "Stop 'Secure' Communities," and cheering when they heard honks of support.

The federal program, which targets hardened criminals in the country illegally, has come under fire in recent weeks. Last week, the Obama Administration declared the program would be expanded nationwide by 2013, a partial response to several states, including Illinois, who sent letters notifying the federal government that they would no longer cooperate.

The hearing, held inside the IBEW union hall by a federally appointed advisory council, generated emotional testimony from both sides of the debate over the program, with about 900 people attending.

Mario De la Rosa, of Waukegan, said he is fighting deportation proceedings after he was pulled over by Waukegan police in February for a busted tail light. De la Rosa, who is from Mexico, said he spent 12 days in custody before a federal immigration judge temporarily allowed for his release to care for a 24-year-old son who is disabled and suffers from seizures. His next court date is August 30.

"If I leave, my wife and I are afraid my son will die," De la Rosa told the council, comprised of immigration attorneys, local law enforcement officials and other government employees.

Brian McCann, 64, presented the opposite perspective.

In June, his brother Dennis McCann, 66, was run over and killed by a man police later learned was in the country illegally, he said.

That man, who he identified as Saul Chavez, had been arrested in 2008 for driving under the influence, McCann said, who lives in Beverly.

"If this young man was deported, my brother would be alive," he said.

Reflecting the complex emotions some feel about Secure Communities, McCann added that he's unsure whether he would like to see it continued.

"At minimum, I want to see felons who are illegal to be deported," he said, as the audience chanted nearby, calling for the program's end.

After showing up to "pay honor my brother," McCann said, "I'm very much affected by this turnout; I was not expecting it."

aolivo@tribune.com

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... 1079.story

Immigration Activists Block Downtown Intersection
nbcchicago.com
Wednesday, Aug 17, 2011
Updated 7:37 PM CDT

[img]http://media.nbcchicago.com/images/654*368/immigration-protest1.jpg[/img]

Coming a day after immigration reform activists' protests outside of President Barack Obama's 2012 Chicago campaign headquarters as part of a National Day of Action, immigrant advocates rallied yet again on Wednesday.

This time, the protest came in response to the Department of Homeland Security's public hearing on the federal Secure Communities deportation program at IBEW Hall, at 600 W. Washington Blvd.

Wednesday's protests, which began at 5:00 p.m. at Haymarket Memorial on 622 W. Randolph St., led to the blocking off of the intersection at Jefferson and Washington Streets for about 10 minutes, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

Activists pulled a chain from one light post to another to block off the intersection as the protestors demanded to be let in to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's hearing just a block away.

The 6 p.m. hearing was disrupted by the crowd's chants, saying, "Send the cops out, let the people in."

Opponents of Secure Communities said the program catches non-criminals, separates families and drains law enforcement resources.

Just two weeks ago, ICE broke their signed agreement with the state of Illinois, telling Gov. Pat Quinn that he must participate in the program after his attempt to opt out of the program on May 4th. Illinois was the first state to try and abandon the program and was soon followed by N.Y. and Mass.
Posted Wednesday, Aug 17, 2011 - 7:37 PM CDT

Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/im ... z1VLCNU3DV

They are just looking for a free ride home since the U S is Bankrupt and spiraling into the abyss....Oblige them

I think they don't think that they will be deported.

Anti-deportation protesters block Kennedy Expressway ramp
couriernews.suntimes.com
BY STEFANO ESPOSITO AND TINA SFONDELES Staff Reporters
August 17, 2011 6:08PM
Updated: August 17, 2011 10:20PM


It was billed as the community’s best chance to vent about a controversial federal program targeting illegal immigrants.

About 200 protesters instead decided they had had enough of talking — and marched out of a downtown task-force hearing Wednesday evening on the Secure Communities program, before blocking an intersection and the Kennedy Expy off-ramp at West Washington Street.

Ten people were arrested, police said, including one young male protester who ran down the off-ramp and starting waving off approaching traffic.

Chanting “Terminate the program! No more lies,â€