Chicago families fear ICE raids after Broadview facility asks for immigration status updates on Father’s Day weekend

BROADVIEW, Ill. (WLS) — There were concerns this Father’s Day over potential deportations.

Some Chicago families were on edge Sunday after receiving messages about their immigration cases.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

Families are feeling worried once again as their relatives have been contacted via texts or emails to appear at a Broadview facility over the weekend regarding their immigration status.

Francisco Ayala expressed his concern, stating, “Father’s Day should be spent with family, and we’re here to support our loved ones,” as his daughter-in-law was among those summoned to check in.

To show his support, Ayala dedicated Father’s Day to accompanying his daughter-in-law to the Broadview facility as she and many others were instructed to report for their pending immigration cases.

“She got blindsided, like I think everyone else, so she had to come in and basically say, ‘I’m here to keep going with the status change,'” Ayala said.

The messages prompted attorneys, immigrant advocates and elected officials to come out to Broadview. Many of them are fearing a repeat of what happened at the South Loop facility just weeks ago, where several people were taken into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

“Many of the people we’ve seen today, their families are kids, they are children,” 25th Ward Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez said. “We don’t want families to be separated.”

“Me and other lawyers tried to reach deportation officers and EROs to find out what is going on and why are clients would be asked to come on a weekend,” immigrant rights lawyer Kelman Resnick said. “None of our emails or phone calls were returned.”

On Sunday, families anxiously waited outside the facility to learn their loved one’s fate.

“The handful of folks who have gone in for their appointment, they have been able to leave, granted with an ankle monitor for monitoring, but it’s the continued difference of whether you get to stay with your family and continue to work your case or you’re immediately deported or detained,” 20th District State Senator Graciela Guzman said. “So they live to fight another day.”

Elected officials and immigrant advocates said they will continue to show up to the immigration appointments to ensure families have both legal and emotional support.