CHICAGO — Faith leaders, school administrators and teachers in this sanctuary city said they will fight to protect their communities after the Trump administration said it will end a long-standing policy that prevented federal immigration authorities from arresting migrants in churches, schools and hospitals.
“We feel like it’s kind of a war, to be honest,” said the Rev. Kenneth Phelps, who has assisted migrants in Chicago with housing and resources in recent years. “So we’re preparing for an attack, we’re not just going to wait until they do it. We’re taking the offensive and training those that are in our community for how to handle this.”
The preparation is in response to a Tuesday announcement from the Department of Homeland Security that it is ending a policy that restricted Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents’ ability to arrest undocumented people at or near so-called sensitive locations, including houses of worship, schools and hospitals.
“Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense,” DHS said in a statement announcing the decision.
NBC News reported last month that the Trump administration would roll back the restriction.
Sanctuary cities such as Chicago are a focus of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration and many here have expected the new administration to escalate its efforts.
“We’re prepared for this,” said the Rev. Beth Brown, a pastor of the Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church. Brown said she believes local policies will continue to protect spaces she still considers safe. “ICE cannot enter our building without a signed judicial warrant,” even with the policy change, she said.
Chicago, like other sanctuary cities, has policies providing protections to immigrant communities and restricting the ability of local law enforcement to assist in matters related to federal civil immigration law.
“I can tell you right now, we have no criminals that are hiding in our church building. Most of the schools, if not all of them, do not have criminals that are hiding in their buildings,” Brown said. “It’s a lot of rhetoric designed to terrorize people, especially immigrants.”
Chicago Public Schools, in a statement to NBC News on Tuesday, also pointed to city ordinances that it said would protect schools despite the DHS policy change.
“ICE agents are not permitted access to CPS facilities unless they provide their credentials, the reason they are requesting access, and a criminal judicial warrant signed by a federal judge,” the school district said in a statement.
It added that over the last month, CEO Pedro Martinez held a virtual meeting on supporting migrant students and provided guidance to all school principals in the district, as he continued to update families.
“We remain committed to ensuring that our schools remain the safest places for all students and that the focus remains on providing a high quality pre-K-12 education,” the statement said.
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In a statement, however, the Chicago Teachers Union said the school district has failed to provide requested training "to protect school communities from unauthorized ICE agent entry into school buildings."
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"Unfortunately, despite our requests and efforts, this need has not been met and we have sent recent communications to the CEO to comply with CPS’ contractual commitments," the union said.
"Despite not receiving training from the district, we are preparing our members to create ‘sanctuary teams’ and working in each school to ensure educators know what to do in case of a raid and are prepared to protect our students and their rights," the union said. "Students should know that one of the safest places they can be is at their school."
Some faith leaders are conducting trainings in their congregations to inform immigrants of their rights and advising them to avoid in-person gatherings that could draw attention.
There is widespread fear among immigrants in local congregations, said Stephanie Clark, the director of strategic engagement of World Relief Chicagoland, a Christian humanitarian organization.
Last week, she said, dozens of faith leaders met an attorney for World Relief Chicagoland to discuss the possibility of ICE coming to their doors and the impact on their members. The groups have been preparing by giving migrants cards with important relevant information to carry on them and encouraging them to make plans for what would happen if they were caught up in an immigration raid, including considerations of guardianship for their children, Clark said.
Phelps said that, after consulting with his lawyer, he has decided to keep his bilingual Sunday worship in-person service in English and Spanish. He and other community leaders are creating plans on what to do if ICE came to their places of worship, he said.
The reverend said he and others were worried not just about congregants who were undocumented, but also others with open asylum cases or Temporary Protected Status potentially getting caught up in raids.
“I’m concerned because I don’t trust the administration,” he said.
But the reverend said he was choosing to focus not on his worries and concerns, but on “extending opportunities to educate and to prepare for the worst.”
