Harris, Jackson respond to ICE agents operating in Northwest Indiana

Today, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers were seen throughout Northwest Indiana, including in Hammond and East Chicago. Multiple videos on social media show ICE agents pursuing individuals in parking lots and restaurants. Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott forced ICE agents off the grounds of a police department earlier today, calling their presence in the city “deeply concerning.”

Two Northwest Indiana state representatives, State Reps. Earl Harris Jr. (D-East Chicago) and Carolyn Jackson (D-Hammond), are monitoring the situation in their respective communities. 

“I am deeply worried to see that ICE agents were attempting to use property of the City of Hammond to stage their terror operation,” Jackson said. “I am thankful to Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott for promptly making the public aware that ICE is present in the city and making sure they are not permitted to use Hammond facilities to intimidate members of our community. 

“What we have seen across the nation in terms of the treatment of immigrants, many of whom immigrated legally or have obtained their citizenship, has been cruel and downright inhumane. Just this week in Chicago, ICE agents have been deploying increasingly violent tactics such as using a Black Hawk helicopter to raid an apartment complex in the middle of the night, dragging children away from their families screaming and crying. Innocent men, women and children are being treated like violent criminals simply because of their appearance. I am devastated for all of the people in my community fearing for their safety and the safety of their friends and families.”

“Everyone deserves the right to due process,” Harris said. “When people can be picked up off the streets based on racial profiling, it is not only a gross injustice to them as an individual, but a signal to everyone that all our rights, too, can be violated with impunity. Across the country and right here in Indiana, immigrants have helped build and shape our communities. A poem inscribed on the Statue of Liberty, which has greeted countless immigrants to this nation, reads, ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.’ I truly believe that this sentiment is the great promise of America and, because of this belief, I can’t view these ICE raids as anything other than un-American."

See these resources from the National Immigration Law Center to know your rights if ICE is encountered in the community.