CHICAGO — The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights received more than 1,000 calls to its hotline Friday — the most in a single day since it was created — as reports of federal immigration enforcement surged across Chicago and beyond.
Callers reported sightings of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, sought legal and economic resources and asked for help finding loved ones who have disappeared. That day, federal agents also forcefully handcuffed a Chicago alderperson and threw chemical irritants onto a crowded street near a school.
The record-breaking number of calls Friday “speaks to the magnitude of how rampant ICE has been in our neighborhoods,” said Veronica Castro, the coalition’s deputy director.
This week marks one month since the Department of Homeland Secur