Progress Illinois

The number of immigrants detained by the Chicago office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) grew by 144 this week -- bringing the total since last October to 1,597. The Associated Press reported on the latest round of Chicago-area "sweeps" this afternoon, but details remain sketchy.

What's known is that federal officers targeted 110 undocumented immigrants who failed to appear for hearings or who were ordered by a judge to leave the country. It's unclear why an additional 34 illegal immigrants were targeted for detention. All of the people taken into custody were from the Chicago area or Northwest Indiana.

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) released the following statement this afternoon condemning the detentions:

ICIRR questions what good can come to our country from such operations, especially when the targeted immigrants may have U.S. citizen families and other stakes in the community which are disrupted with each arrest.

ICIRR also expressed concern that the current round of sweeps is just the beginning of more raids, which could ultimately target 457,000 immigrants in the region for failing to show up to court.

And it's not without good reason.

Federal efforts to scoop up large groups of undocumenteds have become so widespread that social workers and activists have begun counseling immigrants on how to put together kits -- including passports for U.S.-born children, attorney numbers, and other legal information -- to give them a better chance of not being separated from their families.