Since the start of “Midway Blitz” in Chicago, ICE/CBP agents have:
• Shot and killed an unarmed father in Franklin Park and lied about the circumstances of his death;
• Reportedly zip-tied small children and elderly women, some partially naked, in the middle of the night on the South Side;
• Allegedly told a woman to “Do something, b***h” and then shot her five times;
• Tear-gassed protestors, reporters, and Chicago Police Officers;
• Caused a car accident and put a resident in a choke-hold on the side of the street on the West Side;
• Deployed chemical agents on a busy residential street near an elementary school and grocery store, forcing parents to run for cover with their children;
• Marched through downtown displaying high-grade automatic weapons while arresting families “based on how they look;”
• Handcuffed and detained Chicago Ald. Jessie Fuentes for asking for the judicial warrant for a hospitalized man, who broke his leg while pursued by ICE agents;
• Shot a Presbyterian Minister, Rev. David Block, in the face with pepper balls as he was leading a prayer vigil; later in the same day, again shoved and sprayed him with pepper spray outside the ICE facility in Broadview, IL.
Are you not appalled by this?
These are all violations of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, in particular the First Amendment right of peaceful protest and religious assembly. The attacks on Rev. Black and people of faith in prayer are yet another example of the Administration’s anti-Christian bias.
Chicago Roman Catholic Priest Rev. Michael Pfleger attributes the state of emergency in the United States to the President and his administration. “Dr. King said he could not raise his voice against the violence of the oppressed without having first spoken clearly to the greater purveyor of the violence, his own country. And, those are my words to you, Mr. Trump.” Fr. Pfleger continued that before the President dare to speak about the violence in Chicago, he should look into the mirror and address “the violence coming from the White House.”
Various courts have at least temporarily intervened in this abuse of executive power. “Never in modern times has the federal government undermined bedrock constitutional protections on this scale, or usurped states’ police power by directing federal agents to carry out an illegal mission against the people for the government’s own benefit.”
ICE/CBP must follow the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the rule of law. Each agent who engaged in these abuses must be tried in a court of law for their crimes, just like any police officer would be, if they engaged in the same violence.
It’s time for Congress to intervene and stop this abuse of power and attacks on law-abiding Americans. What are you personally and Congress collectively doing to protect Americans AND restore the rule of law in the United States?
Lest we forget, the overwhelming majority of immigrants are not convicted felons, but the president is.
Rev. Dr. Vilius Rudra Dundzila
Howell
