On the city’s South Side, an apartment building was stormed in a late-night, military-style raid, with dozens of residents dragged indiscriminately from their beds and homes. Witnesses said they saw children separated from their parents and restrained by zip ties. (Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin denied this, calling it “a shameful and disgusting lie.”)
At Humboldt Park Hospital, Chicago Alderperson Jessie Fuentes was manhandled and handcuffed by federal agents in civilian clothing for the “crime” of asking them to produce a judicial warrant. Video of the incident clearly shows that Fuentes remained calm, neither touching nor hampering the agents.
“I’m infuriated about the abduction of one of my constituents, Frank Miranda. These ICE raids are reminiscent of the Fugitive Slave Act, when the U.S. Marshalls would hunt down and kidnap Black Americans. That was a dark and shameful time in our nation’s history – we must not allow that to repeat.
“Masked federal agents aren’t welcome in our state and they can’t keep kidnapping Americans. Not only do these raids undermine the principles that our country was founded on, but they’re against the law and downright racist. I’m demanding an end to ICE’s reign of terror, a thorough investigation into the kidnapping of Mr. Miranda, and fundamental change to this Administration's approach to immigration.”
In a letter sent to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem on October 6, 2025, Frank Miranda recounted how he was picked up outside of his place of employment by masked agents, handcuffed, and thrown into an unmarked van. He was then driven to an ICE facility in Portland, where he was held for hours before being driven back to his place of employment. At no point was he given a reason for his abduction.
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Protesters have gathered outside the ICE field office in Burlington for a day-long demonstration, expected to last 14 hours, to support and defend the Constitution.
The protest began early Saturday morning, despite the ICE office being closed today, and is organized as a response to recent events involving immigration enforcement.
“I am an immigrant myself. I am a citizen, but right now I don’t feel safe,” said Lorena Betts, one of the protesters.
In the lead up to her son’s birth, Jacqueline made plans to call 911 for an ambulance to pick her up from her North Florida home and transport her to a hospital about an hour away.
The second-time mom and Guatemalan immigrant, who has lived in the country for a decade, would have relied on her husband to drive her to the hospital. But a few months ago he was deported, leaving Jacqueline and her daughter without the family’s primary source of income, transportation and support.
[. . .]
Medical care and support essential to a healthy pregnancy have become harder for people like Jacqueline to obtain following President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Many patients — nervous about encountering immigration officials if they leave their homes, drive on public roads or visit a medical clinic — are skipping virtually all of their pregnancy-related health care. Some are opting to give birth at home with the help of midwives because of the possible presence of ICE at hospitals.
Across the country, medical providers who serve immigrant communities said fewer patients are coming in for prenatal or other pregnancy-related care. As a result, patients are experiencing dangerous complications, advocates and health care providers told The 19th.
[. . .]
In January, Trump rescinded a federal policy that protected designated areas including hospitals, health clinics and doctors’ offices from immigration raids. ICE has recently targeted patients in hospital maternity wards and on their way home from prenatal visits.
A majority of Americans believe ICE should not be carrying out immigration enforcement at health centers. A new poll from The 19th and SurveyMonkey conducted in mid-September found that most Americans don’t think ICE should be allowed to detain immigrants at hospitals, their workplace, domestic violence shelters, schools or churches.
Women are more likely to oppose enforcement in these spaces than men. More than two-thirds of women said ICE shouldn’t be allowed to detain immigrants in hospital settings.
The warrantless arrests of 11 immigrant restaurant workers in Liberty earlier this year violated a 2022 consent decree, a federal judge ruled.
The arrests of the workers at El Potro Mexican Café in February were among the first in the Kansas City area to draw widespread media attention.
The Liberty cases became part of a broader filing, challenging government tactics under the second Trump administration on behalf of 26 immigrant plaintiffs.
The case did not question the government’s right to make arrests on immigration violations. But it questioned whether it had violated the prior consent agreement by making warrantless arrests.
On Oct. 7, a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, ruled in favor of the immigrant workers.
Judge Jeffrey I. Cummings ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to lift any conditions on the release of 22 immigrants, including 11 people who had been detained after the Liberty raid.
In Colorado, residents protested the construction of yet another ICE cage.
Carrying signs that likened immigrant detention facilities to concentration camps, protesters organized mass phone calls to Gov. Jared Polis’ office and to elected officials in Hudson, urging them to oppose the reopening of the Hudson Correctional Facility. They chanted and voiced broader opposition to the mass arrest-and-deportation program undertaken by the Trump administration, the scale of which prompted federal officials this year to seek new detention options in Colorado.
Jessica Hernandez and her sister Michelle, both of Greeley, held a sign for their father, who they said was a military veteran deported in 2005. He still lives in Juarez, Mexico, they said. As protesters chanted and spoke into a microphone, tuba player Yehuda Serotta punctuated sentences and chants with the horn slung across his body.
“Excuse my language, it’s [expletive],” Michelle M., who provided only her last initial because of concerns about her job, said of the plans to reopen the Hudson prison. “We don’t need another detention center here.”
Pope Leo XIV encouraged leaders and volunteers of the Catholic Charities USA network to persevere in their work pointing out that they follow the Gospel mandate to recognise Christ in the poor, the hungry, the homeless, and all those in need.
His words of gratitude came in a message to the network is gathered in San Juan, Puerto Rico or its 115th Annual Meeting.
Agents of Hope
Quoting Pope Francis’ definition of hope as “the desire and expectation of good things to come, despite our not knowing what the future may bring,” Pope Leo underlined the importance of Catholic Charities’ work across its 168 diocesan agencies.
He described them as “agents of hope” for millions of people in the United States, especially the most vulnerable, the migrants, refugees, and those unable to rely on their own resources.
“Through providing food, shelter, medical care, legal assistance, and many other gestures of kindness,” he wrote, “Catholic Charities affiliates across the United States show what Pope Francis often referred to as God’s ‘style’ of closeness, compassion, and tenderness.”
Witnesses of Hope
The Pope said that while poverty and forced migration bring immense challenges, migrants and refugees also serve as “witnesses to hope,” both by their resilience and through the faith they bring to the communities that welcome them, to find their new homes in your country.
He described them as “missionaries of hope,” strengthening parishes and building bridges across nations and cultures.
Wesley United Methodist Church will offer an “Immigration 101: Welcoming the Stranger” workshop for community members to learn about current immigration issues.
The free workshop will be held from 12:30 to 3 p.m. Oct. 12 at the church, 14 N. May St., Aurora.
“Wesley UMC and our UMC Northern Illinois Conference advocacy partner present a workshop to help us understand the current issues facing our immigrant neighbors – and give us some ideas of how we can support and help provide for neighbors in need!” Wesley United Methodist Church’s lead pastor, the Rev. Tammy Scott, said in a news release.
Some 50 peacemakers, including members of the Pax Christi USA National Council held a prayer service and vigil in support of immigrants outside of the headquarters of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency in Washington, DC on Friday, 3 October. The service was sponsored by Pax Christi USA, Pax Christi Metro DC - Baltimore, the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker, Franciscan Action Network, Congregation Action Network, Sisters of Mercy, the Quixote Center and other groups.
The service began with a welcome from Pax Christi USA Executive Director Charlene Howard. Sherry Simon, outgoing chair of the National Council, then read this message from Pax Christi USA Bishop President John Stowe, OFM Conv:
"I wish I could be there in person with Pax Christi USA and others for this witness on this eve of the Feast of Saint Francis. I hope that the words of Cardinal McElroy from the march on the World Day of Migrants and Refugees are still resounding in DC and beyond. He called out the assault on the most vulnerable that is taking place in DC and many places throughout the country.
"It is so vital that we who call ourselves Christians remind ourselves of the most fundamental Christian values, love of God and love of neighbour. As you bear witness in the nation's capital you are affirming the importance of human dignity, which is God-given and is more basic than our nationality or citizenship. You are also striving to uphold the common good, recognizing that we are one community in the US, brought together from all over the world and our immigrants have made us stronger and better and will continue to do so. Let us remember the biblical imperative that we welcome the stranger, and recognize that it is Christ himself whom we welcome. Let us insist on the respect for human dignity and the rights of all, for law-enforcement personnel to clearly identify themselves and their authority, and continue to work for the comprehensive immigration reform that can allow millions of our immigrant sisters and brothers to leave among us without fear."
The participants then sang Sweet Honey in the Rock's song, 'We who believe in freedom shall not rest,' which was followed by this reflection from Pax Christi USA 2016 Teacher of Peace Art Laffin:
Immigration and Customs and Enforcement officials have claimed since June that assaults on their own officers have climbed sharply, with the White House insisting in a September executive order that attacks are up "more than 1,000 percent."
While the number of assaults on ICE agents have increased, there is no public evidence that they have spiked as dramatically as the federal government has claimed.
An analysis of court records shows about a 25% rise in charges for assault against federal officers through mid-September, compared with the same period a year ago.
[. . .]
Despite repeated requests for data to back up their eye-popping statistics, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has repeatedly declined to provide any justification to CPR or NPR for continuing to make its assertions.
Encouraged by the silence of the Democratic Party, aspiring dictator Donald Trump escalated his war on the American people on Friday. In Memphis, Tennessee, armed National Guard soldiers began deploying on the streets with police. In Chicago, federal immigration Gestapo were filmed assaulting and kidnapping residents and journalists.
In Memphis, at least nine armed National Guard members, wearing body armor with the label “military police,” were recorded visibly patrolling near a tourist center near the Mississippi River, which flows alongside the second largest city in Tennessee. Republican Governor Bill Lee is cooperating with the Trump administration in deploying 150 members of the Tennessee National Guard alongside local and federal police agencies under the “Memphis Safe Task Force.”
In Chicago, Illinois, federal immigration agents with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were recorded violently assaulting residents, including a worker from news outlet WGN.
In a video taken by a bystander, Debbie Brockman is shown being handcuffed on the ground by masked CBP thugs. Near the end of the video, Brockman yells out in pain as the agents cuff her. Not only is Brockman a WGN employee, she is also a US citizen.
After Brockman was detained, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) propagandist Tricia McLaughlin claimed Brockman was “arrested for throwing objects at law enforcement.” McLaughlin refused to elaborate on what “objects” were allegedly thrown.
Nothing uttered by the immigration Gestapo or the Trump administration as a whole should ever be taken at face value. Shortly after McLaughlin posted her statement, WGN and other outlets reported that Brockman was released and had not been charged with a crime. If there was any evidence that Brockman actually assaulted police thugs in some way, she would have been charged with a crime.
Again, they lie. They lie over and over. They bear false witness. Stop accepting their big lie that they are men and women of God. They do not work for the betterment of the people, they could not walk with Jesus. They're trash. That's all they'll ever be.
Yosef said he was holding a microphone and leading chants on a sidewalk when an ISP trooper started pushing protesters out of the way and approached Yosef.
“It was like I had no time to react, and next thing I know I was grabbed, they locked my arms and the other [troopers] came with him and threw me to the ground, pinned me down,” Yosef said about two hours later after he was released.
“All I saw was just the ground, and I saw sideways. I couldn’t see nothing. It was like I was literally trapped,” he said, adding that he was on his stomach as three troopers knelt on his back.
“I couldn’t resist. I was like crushed,” he said.
And MSNBC did the following video report today.
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