As federal immigration enforcement activity intensified in the fall, United Church of Rogers Park Pastor Hannah Kardon visited the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois, to protest ICE activity.
Since then, she said she has visited the facility a few dozen times. She said she “saw how devastating (the facility) was for the city of Broadview,” adding that children, neighboring daycares and houses of worship were at times exposed to tear gas deployed by federal agents.
“It’s not safe to be near a torture facility that is set up to deny human rights,” Kardon said. “So, there is a safety issue, and I don’t know if the politicians can be honest about this, but I can be honest about this. These detention facilities are horrors for the people inside them, and our eventual goal should be that absolutely none of them exist anywhere.”
Now, state lawmakers are taking steps to regulate where detention centers can operate.
In April, the Illinois House passed a bill that would ban the construction of detention center facilities 1,500 feet from the property boundaries of any school, day care center, private residence or place of religious worship. Speaker Emmanuel “Chris” Welch, whose district includes the Broadview facility, spearheaded House Bill 5024.
“This detention center is within feet of a church, of daycare centers, of schools, of parks and countless residential homes. To see how the activities that went on there, particularly during Operation Midway Blitz, disrupted a small community and literally led to the community, to the village of Broadview, expending over $700,000 to date — it’s just been destructive,” Welch said. “These types of facilities shouldn’t be located within a neighborhood like that.”
Still, House Bill 5024 won’t retroactively affect the facility in Broadview. A majority of House Republicans voted against the bill, with some critics raising questions about the legislation’s legal capacity because it addresses federal operations. Welch said he worked with the Attorney General’s office to modify the bill’s language to ensure its constitutionality.
According to several immigrant rights advocates who support the bill, the presence of detention centers has taken a significant psychological toll on immigrant communities.
Angie Lopez, the suburban outreach specialist for Latino Union of Chicago, said some members are hesitant to show up to work and community events because they fear detainment.
“It’s been hard to see our membership not be able to be part of community because of that looming threat,” Lopez said. “They have lost that sense of stability, and they don’t know if they’re going to be here from one day to the next.”
Amina Barhumi, the executive director of the Muslim Civic Coalition, noted the history of Department of Homeland Security operations and the department’s disproportionate impact on members of the Muslim community. She said the “racist roots” of detention and federal enforcement activity are a critical backdrop to understand and learn from.
She added that communities have the right to thrive without the detention centers and the “surveillance apparatus” and the kind of policing that comes with them.
“It’s important to talk about what public safety looks like if these detention centers are in the backyards of neighborhoods, schools, daycares and parks and places of worship — just the kind of fear mongering that it does,” Barhumi said.
While House Bill 5024 awaits Senate approval, both Barhumi and Lopez said their respective organizations are working towards policy and legislative objectives to further protect immigrant communities in Illinois.
“This is just about dignity, safety and just making sure that our communities are places where people can thrive, and not places defined by detention,” Lopez said.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the name of the Muslim Civic Coalition. The Daily regrets this error.
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