Recap and Recording: The Real Lives and Aftermath of Those Affected By Mass Deportation Crusade

Access a recording of the virtual event HERE

Access online version of the press release HERE

Washington, DC — On a virtual press event held this morning, elected officials and affected families navigating the turmoil of this administration’s anti-immigration agenda joined with national experts to assess the real lives, the aftermath and the implications of mass deportation. Speakers included:

Illinois State Rep. Hoan Huynh, who recently had federal agents surround his car at gunpoint while monitoring the site of a potential immigration raid. Rep. Huynh stated: “When we think about the operation “Midway Blitz” that this current regime is pushing, this is really a propaganda campaign dressed as law and order, and it’s also a harbinger of what’s to come across the country as well. Chicago is the testing ground right now for these tactics, and they want to criminalize opposition and want to punish those who are standing up for our neighbors.”

Chicago Alderman Matt Martin, whose district includes Ruben Torres Maldonado, the father who was detained shortly after his 16-year-old daughter’s chemotherapy treatment. Alderman Martin stated: “The actions of the Trump administration, and ICE in particular, aren’t making my community safer; they aren’t making our broader Chicago community safer. Instead, what they are doing is wreaking havoc and terror. Where residents from every single corner of Chicago are staying home, they’re staying away from many friends and family members out of fear that leaving their home could risk them, could risk detainment, even if they’re just going to a grocery store. Or a workplace, or to their kid’s school. And so, my hope is that the Trump administration will recognize how traumatic this is not just for Chicago, but for so many other cities across our country, where they are detaining people for no reason and hurting so many families.”

Jenni Rivera, a U.S. citizen from North Carolina and board member of American Families United Action, whose husband chose to self-exile after 30 years in the country rather than risk detention. She stated, “Somebody like my husband, there’s no reason for them to take him away. There’s no reason for us to have lived in this fear and anxiety and this stress for all of these years. There should be a pathway, there should be a way for us to be able to go in front of a judge and plead our case.”

Deborah Fleischaker, former acting ICE Chief of Staff, provided an expert perspective on the national context, including recent leadership shakeup at ICE, stating: “What’s increasingly clear is that while all of this is done under the guise of public safety, it is not about public safety. It’s about optics and immigration enforcement, plain and simple. Unfortunately, what we’re seeing is only the beginning. With the virtual blank check provided to ICE and the “Big Beautiful Bill,” the Trump administration is in the process of ramping up the number of detention beds, the number of law enforcement officers, and the ability to conduct significantly more immigration enforcement.”

Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice, highlighted the recent polling memo her organization released underscoring the unpopularity of mass deportation. She stated: “We’re witnessing another week of unnecessary and cruel violence, driven by an administration that’s turned deportation into a crusade against anyone who looks or sounds like an immigrant. The violence, the lack of restraint, the abuse of power cannot become normal. We must refuse to look away and demand accountability before our democracy erodes any further.”

●     Access a recording of today’s virtual event HERE

●     Read the America’s Voice polling memo toplines HERE