Durbin Says Trump Administration 'Not Prepared' To House Immigrants Detained In ICE Raids
CHICAGO (CBS) -- In two days, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents could begin conducting raids to arrest and deport thousands of undocumented immigrants across the nation, and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said he's concerned about where people who are detained in the Chicago area will be housed.
"The first thing we've learned is that the detention facilities for these families are the same ones that have been used for border crossings in the last several months. Some of those circumstances, we know, are unacceptable; inhumane treatment of children and families," he said. "So this government, this administration is not prepared to deal with these people."
Durbin said immigrant families across the U.S. are living in fear as the Trump administration says ICE agents are preparing to conduct raids to deport thousands of undocumented immigrants across the U.S.
According to the New York Times, the raids could begin Sunday.
The operation comes three weeks after President Donald Trump delayed plans for deportation raids ahead of the July 4th holiday. At the time, Trump said he would resume the raids unless Democrats agreed to revise the nation's asylum laws within two weeks.
What makes the raids different this time is they could include what are called collateral arrests. That means an undocumented immigrant who is not a target of an arrest, but is in the same place where a raid takes place, could still be taken into custody.
Immigrant rights groups in the Chicago area are mobilizing to inform undocumented immigrants of their rights in case federal agents come to their door.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot has directed the Chicago Police Department not to cooperate in any way with the ICE raids, and to terminate the agency's access to CPD databses.
Immigration groups have set up a 24-hour hotline for families to call if their home is raided or a family member is arrested.