Guns Blazing, ICE Raids Chicago Home Filled with Sleeping Kids
Agents “Pointed Pistols in Our Faces... Shot My Dad”
March 27, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
From readers:
Press conference, Chicago, March 28. Photo: Twitter/@4danlopez
On March 27 at 6:30 a.m., the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) busted into a home in the northwest side of Chicago. With guns drawn they opened fire on Felix Torres, a 30-year resident of Chicago. His daughter, Carmen Torres, was sleeping in the basement of the house with her husband and one-year-old daughter when agents burst through the front door. Carmen said they “pointed pistols in our faces ... shot my dad.”
According to the family’s attorney, Thomas Hallock, Felix Torres “was shot immediately, or almost immediately, upon opening his door to see what the commotion was outside of his residence.” Torres was taken to the hospital in serious condition. ICE said Torres was not the person they came to arrest. The ICE agents claim Torres had a gun. Torres’ attorney said, “The man’s family insists he was unarmed and did nothing wrong.”
“It’s a lie when they say he was holding a gun,” Carmen Torres said. “They shot my dad. They shot him, and I don’t know why. We didn’t even have time to dress or grab milk for the baby.” At least eight family members were in the house during the raid, including her two nephews, ages nine years and five months. All of Felix Torres' children were born in the U.S., and Felix himself, originally from Mexico, has had a green card (legal permanent residency status) for many years. This raid is essentially extending the ICE terror to anybody who is Brown, whether they are an immigrant or not.
A press conference was called by Chicago activist and local alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, who said in a statement, “ICE’s guns blazing raid on a northwest side home filled with sleeping kids is exactly why the City of Chicago should refuse to collaborate with ICE. ICE routinely violates the American people’s constitutional rights. This guns blazing ICE raid deepens my resolve to organize my community so we can keep each other safe from the threat posed by ICE.”
Another Chicago alderman, Gilbert Villegas, said, “We’re going to have to talk to CPD [Chicago Police Department] to find out if this was a coordinated effort, because if it was in any way, that raises concerns about us as a sanctuary city. Is this our future in Chicago with Donald Trump as president?” The short answer is, YES!
Trump and Pence’s fascist offensive against immigrants and refugees, with stormtrooper attacks by ICE, steam-rolls on with ever-growing force, terror and viciousness, including in sanctuary cities. ICE and other security agencies have been unleashed and will be beefed up. Undocumented immigrants now live in a state of terror, and immigrants more generally are being continually made to justify their presence.
These ICE raids MUST BE STOPPED! Every person with a conscience must stand up and say NO! to these fascist Gestapo raids on homes of immigrants. Any attempt to harass, lock up and intimidate immigrants must be met with determined resistance NOW!
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