Snelling reiterated that CPD cannot and will not interfere with federal agents’ work. He said CPD officers alone won’t be dispatched to calls related to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “What we will do is send a supervisor to that location to assess,” he said. “Once the assessment is made, and we know that it’s only immigration enforcement going on, our officers will not be in those areas assisting in any way when it comes to immigration enforcement.”
Snelling and Soto, the Johnson administration’s chief homelessness officer, said the city won’t be assisting in any efforts to arrest people experiencing homelessness.
“We do not interfere with the work that they’re doing, but we will not engage in immigration enforcement in any way, assisting with federal agents, but we won’t, and again, I’ll just make this clear, we will not interfere with the work that they’re doing,” Snelling said.
Ponce de León, who leads the Johnson administration’s office of Immigrant, Migrant and Refugee Rights, responded to reporter questions about how the city will support immigrant communities. She said the city has been sharing Know Your Rights information in multiple languages and working with immigrant rights groups on preparation planning.
Allies, she said, are also organizing ways to assist immigrant communities with daily outdoor errands.
“What does it mean to be ready in the case of a separation? People are looking at basic information, having their passports and documents together. They’re also considering giving guardianship to a trusted friend or family member in case they are separated from their children,” she said. “These separations are life-changing, and the most that we can do right now is to make sure that we are working in partnership with the faith community, with community organizations, with a variety of groups to help get this information out.”
The key tenet from the coalition’s press conference at Daley Plaza that was reiterated is that an influx of federal agents or the National Guard will not solve the decades-long disinvestment in Black communities. Speakers also emphasized that investment in quality schools, affordable housing, and employment is crucial to addressing systemic inequities.
