Cook County leaders joined community activists and others denouncing the Trump Administration's stepped up immigration enforcement -- and the shooting death by ICE agents of a man in Franklin Park.
Board president Toni Preckwinkle and other elected and community leaders gathered at the County Building Wednesday morning to condemn the September 12 shooting by ICE agents that killed Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez ... an undocumented immigrant who federal authorities say dragged an agent with his car while trying to get away from a traffic stop in Franklin Park.
Fred Tsao with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refguee Rights noted that the Administration has provided no information to support their description of the incident. "Videos posted online since then have cast doubts on ICE's account of the incident," he said.
Cook County commissioner Frank Aguilar joined several of his colleagues on the county Board and other leaders to share accounts of plainclothes ICE agents whisking away people outside county court buildings or off the street, detaining U-S citizens as well as people without criminal records.
"This is not about criminals," said Aguilar, who went on to suggest that the Trump Administration's goal is to create chaos in immigrant communities.
Preckwinkle noted that Cook County's immigrant community makes up 21-percent of the county's total population: "Right now, they're under attack," she said, "and it's being led by our own federal government, disgracefully."
She and others called on county commissioners to approve a resolution denouncing ICE's tactics and advising county agencies to let board members know when they encounter federal agents.
Commissioner Jessica Vasquez sponsored the resolution.
"Transparency saves lives," she said. "Knowing whether ICE agents are present in our county spaces gives our residents the ability to make informed and safe decisions."